I watched some youtube footage of him at his absolute peak in 1981. He beat Joey Olivo by corner retirement after 13 rounds. Olivo was a very good fighter but he was totally outclassed. Then, Zapata won a 15 round UD over German Torres. Torres barely landed a punch. Zapata at his peak was an awesome combination of offense and slick defense. Too bad is prime wasn't too long. He was also freakishly tall for a Junior Flyweight/Flyweight and had a tremendous reach advantage over his opponents. I guess a weak chin was his primary drawback, but at his peak it wasn't tested much at all.
He was a great talent, just a bit too much of a nutcase to fully take advantage of it.Made some bad decisions(like jumping up to bantam); was too lackadaisacal and full of hubris for his defensive prowess at times and like you say he had a dentable chin. Still, an excellent fighter most of the time that had the potential to be absolutely great.
Too self destructive. Chang destroyed Zapata because Zapata hadn't trained properly and had major trouble making weight due to having been in jail for beating up his own mother. That pretty much explains the type of person he was and why he didn't become the ATG he could have been.
Yes. By Amado Usua in a big upset. He then regained that title by koing Usua's conquerer Tadashi Tomori. Then, engaged in the two fights with Chang, winning the first by disputed 15 round decision, then stopped on his stool after 3 rounds in the rematch - where the reported jail, lack of conditioning occurred. Never fought at 108 lbs again. Zapata, despite seeming to underachieve, had a very respectable career He won the WBC light flyweight title after only 11 fights. He defended it 8 times in two years, before the surprise loss to Ursua He regained that title, defending it 2 times before the loss to Chang He won the WBA flyweight title and defended it 5 times in less than two years, before losing to Bassa. He fought a draw in the Bassa rematch. He beat one time champions Freddie Castillo, Joey Olivo, Dodie Boy Penalosa and Jung Koo Chang. He also beat dangerous fighters like Alberto Castro and Javier Lucas in title defenses. Other title fight losses were to Santos Laciar, in an attempt to win the WBA flyweight title in 1984, the loss to Harold Petty when he jumped all the way up to 118 lbs after the Chang loss, and a ko loss to 115 lb. champion Sun Kil Moon in 1993. So, all in all he won three world titles and had 15 successful defenses. He also fought a staggering 551 rounds. That is a very high number for any modern fighter. All in all, I think he is somewhat underrated.
Great news http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...e-announces-2016-class-inductees-and-reaction Here's a story on the selections. They say Zapata "had a slow ascent to the world title." LOL. He won it around his 10th fight. Oh well Glad Camacho made it in as well Now, they need to induct Donald Curry.
I hear a lot of folks bringing up Zapata not being ready for the 2nd Chang fight. Fine; if you are going that route, the same can be said of Chang their 1st fight. He had a severe foot injury, and he should not have taken the fight at all, as he couldn't train for several weeks leading up to the fight itself. The difference is that when Zapata wasn't ready, he got iced in 3 rounds; when Chang wasn't ready, he lost a disputed decision that most people who saw the fight believe he should have won. Stylistically, I don't think the best Zapata ever threatens the best Chang. Zapata's length and herky-jerkiness would trouble more pedestrian guys, but Chang had the superior speed, work-rate, and was just as crafty as Zapata - if not more so.
Just got done watching the Zapata vs Chang fights (and I thing Chang deserves a victory in the first one 9-5 but the 3rd round is missing)... What are some good fights to check out (although I will probably look at all of them), which next showcase his ability? Any good links or stories?
Sorry my bad...Zapata. I have pretty much watched all of Chang’s stuff now. Most of it more than once. Starting to look deeper at Zapata, canto and the galaxy brothers
