Comeback Carlos Zarate - Did he have anything left?

He was off seven years and wasn't anywhere close to his prime form when he came back in '86. He was a Mexican legend, though, so he got a WBC title shot pretty fast. I wouldn't put much weight on his losses to Fenech and Zaragoza - he was just way too far best his best.

I would say he showed the form of a good journey man- maybe a top 25 contender in his comeback.

I don't think he had enough left to beat any legitimate top 10 contenders at that point.

I would venture to say prime for prime he would destroy Zaragoza - turning his face into a pulp.

Prime for prime at 118 he would beat Fenech, but Fenech would be too strong for him at 122 lbs.

 

Zarate was tall and lanky for a bantam. He was 118 lb version of Thomas Hearns at 147 lbs
, Sandy Saddler at 126 lbs and Bob Foster at 175 lbs. Their power and skill led to some
brutal ko's and they struck fear in their opponents in their division when fighting in prime.

 

Watch the "Z" Boys shootout ...which will tell you why prime Zarate was right at the top of Bantamweight legends. A prime Ruben Olivares vs prime Carlos Z would have been something to see.

 

Zarate:
height 5′ 8″ / 173cm
reach 67″ / 170cm

Zamora:
height 5′ 4″ / 162cm

Zamora overview:
http://ucnlive.com/riddle-zamora-turns-61/

 

He had a name and power little timing, little speed 7yrs is a long time away from a sport that requires so much tuning. I heard he came back for money but I would have to research.....Fenech was a force of nature but Zaragoza would not have beaten him in his prime....but I do not think his name should have been considered a big scalp for them at that stage

 

Zarate was a pinnacle level Bantam imo. It's strong at the top but he belongs well in there among them.

I'm eagerly awaiting a Matt McGrain Bantam list!

 

Definite top 3 Bantam with Ruben Olivares and Edre Joffe. Now there is a legend who
is never mentioned on this forum. Because he mainly fought in Brazil.

 

Jofre had plenty of support on here back in the day that grew steadily as more footage outside of the Harada and Medel fights surfaced. One of the greatest of all fighters to captured on film. Even Nat Fleischer thought so, the biased old *******.

As per the thread, I don't think I've seen Zarate-Zaragoza, so can't comment. I watched the Fenech fight a few years back and my memory is that Zarate got mullered in the opening exchanges and was visibly a shadow of his old self, but was actually settling into a groove of sorts before the cuts stoppage and landing some good punches on Jeff with slowly increasing frequency, though still being out-worked. I'll have to check it out again at some point.