Get some of his fights. especially if you are a Whitaker fan. Forget Willie Pep, Mayweather etc.. this is really the only other great defensive fighter imo that often fights similarly to Whitaker from a defensive standpoint, though there are some big differences otherwise. A genious at his best, even if not always consistent.I tend to think he would have been too much even for Canto to outslick.
No problem. Just noticed i spelled genius wrong.Ah well, **** editing it, the point still stands.:good
He sure looked great in that Joey Olivo fight. I just re-watched it a week or two ago and I had forgotten just how dominating a performance Hilario put in that day, took Olivo apart with surgical precision and barely got hit in return... a masterful performance against a solid contender and eventual title holder. Although I always wondered why he quit in the Chang return bout however, does anyone know wether he has ever spoken about that incident and why he called it quits in the 3rd?
I know he was having trouble with the weight by that point, but that's no excuse for giving up so early.For instance, Chang apparently had problems with injuries that severely hampered his training for the first fight. I've always thought it may be the most blatant quit job from an elite fighter, other than No Mas. zapata was an odd guy, definitely suspect mentally despite his vast technical ability.It's fights like that and getting himself knocked out while coasting early against limited puncher Amado ursua that likely keep him back from enjoying the same status as many other Flyweight greats like Canto and Harada.Chang should be in that class too, but is too often forgotten.
Thanks for the info Mantequilla. I agree with you that his quit job in the return with Chang looked very bad, even the referee couldn`t believe it at first and urged him on until he realised he wasn`t going to and waved it off. The Ursua fight just saw Hilario clown around too much and it came back to bite him in the ass in spectacularly embarassing fashion, he should have outboxed the huge punching but very limited Ursua with ease that day. And yes Chang is sadly all but forgotten today by most, even so-called historians and especially by the voters of the IBHOF. Slightly off topic but I always felt that a fight between Kingpetch and Zapata would have been a very interesting tactical fight between two pure boxers, how do you see that one panning out Mante? I`d favour Zapata, but Pone would be a live underdog I feel. Kingpetch was a good fighter, he just had the misfortune of having a weak chin and just wasn`t very durable and able to withstand punishment. He was also a terrible in-fighter, anyone who got inside on him could put a lot of hurt on the guy as he was clueless in how to tie his foe effectively and hold on and would instead just cover up and get the snot punched out of him. But Zapata wouldn`t pose any of these problems for him, which means Pone could operate and fight at his own pace and within his comfort zone which was at long range. I do wonder how Pone would have dealt with Zapata`s movement though considering he wasn`t particularly fleetfooted unlike the lanky Panamanian who could move around the ring beautifully at times.
It would be a very good tactical fight for sure. Zapata's better defense, speed and overall reflexes\athleticism would give him the decision win imo.Kingpetch was very classy stand-up boxer, but quite slow handed for a fly and didn't quite have the reflexes to back up his more traditional skills like zapata does.he wouldn't have his usual height\reach advantages either. I'd probably favour Bassa over Kingpetch as well. Good fights.
I've seen his fights with Chang, Bassa and Ursua. The first Chang fight was enjoyable to watch and Chang clearly won it. Zapata showed some great defense in the Bassa fights, but hardly threw any punches in return, which made the fights quite dull from an action perspective. The Ursua fight, as RB says, was just plain embarrassing for Zapata. I've got his fight with Laciar in my possession and I may give it a look later on. Has anyone here seen it and what did they make of the decision?
My feeling was that Zapata had won by 3 or 4 points.It's a good fight from both fighters perspectives. I thought he beat Bassa in the rematch as well.Surprisingly knocking him down early.
I've been meaning to bring this up as I have never seen footage but have wanted to for a while, do you know of any sources I can use?
I might do a Zapata highlights clip like the Locche and Pea ones I've done so far that I upped to youtube. Should be good for a laugh, his defense is very Whitaker like.
Zapata is brilliant. I wonder if Whitaker ever saw film of him. I doubt it, but their styles a eerily similar. This is the kind of guy I give rounds on ring generalship alone.
Excellent technician who put his punches together very well, and, when he was on, had ridiculously effective defensive ability. The way he dismantled Olivo was fun to watch, because Olivo was a solid fighter who never stopped trying the entire fight.
