Barrera vs Zarate who was greater?

I've already made by feelings quite clear on this subject before. I believe although Zarate's reign at Bantamweight is often under appreciated, he had an abnormally padded record as he was coming up. His resume is good not great, I think Barrera edges this aspect, in addition to his superior amount of time at the top and his achievements spanning three weight classes and three decades. I concede it is debatable despite my comments on the other thread, but I have Marco above him and I feel my reasons are justified.

 

Measured and fair response:good

 

By my own admission, I feel skeptical commenting on Zarate's resume really. There's a lot of his fights I haven't seen it goes without saying, and there were probably more quality fighters he beat than I'm willing to admit to. I really like Zarate though, his stance and the way he delivers his shots often reminds me of Arguello, and that's a huge compliment.

 

A pick 'em.

I prefer Zarate as a head to head force, but you can certainly argue for Marco here.

zarate often seems to get a bit more of the benefit of the doubt than other Bantams who had good reigns and then were unable to come back from a loss or two while not quite at their best.

 

I was about to say something like this. I rate Zarate very highly head to head, but that's me taking a risk when it comes to hypothetical matches and picking him, as you say, he's not as proven as some of his countrymen.

 

Bringing it back from the dead here, Anarci.

 

I like Barrera in this one. Zarate had a nice reign and certainly ranks highly head to head, but Barrera certainly distinguished himself for a long time over multiple weight classes. He pretty much reinvented himself after the 2 defeats to Junior Jones in 96-97. Not too many fighters can claim such a rebirth. After turning himself into more of a boxer, he remained a top fighter for nearly a decade until his defeat to Pac, and even then had some good efforts afterward. I think there's something to be said for long title reigns (Hagler, Monzon, Louis and even Holmes), but I don't think Zarate's has the depth to surpass Barrera's consistency at multiple weights against difficult competition.

 

Zarate was an excellent, almost great ko specialist who feasted on the hapless bantamweights of his era, and at the time he seemed greater than he was..the perspective of history however, has adjusted the picture somewhat..MAB, on the other hand had more going for him..starting as an all action offensive fighter, he reinvented himself to become a consumate boxer and contributed, for me, one of the most aesthetically satisfying victories of all time..that being his mastery and taming of Hamed..a pity that it wasn't a 15 rounder..and that's my only criticism...Barrera was graeter than Zarate, period.

 

Barrera.

 

barrera reinvented himself in that patient manner against a technically inept, one shot at a time pure puncher though.He was always a well-schooled offensive force, but never a consummate boxer ie a masterboxer imo.I much prefer him when he's fighting with fire and mixing his technical skills with his aggressive punching in bunches.

Fighting in only that methodical manner wouldn't cut it against a lot of the better featherweights, even if it was the right thing to do against Hamed and very impressive because of it.Had Hamed even had the overall talent of his flawed stylistic template Herol Graham(and not just his power) , it wouldn't have worked.

Zarate boxed cautiously just as well against Pintor, in what was a widely criticised performance.Only thing was Pintor was a helluva lot more effective than the sheffield clown was at that point.Now if that had been Hamed in there...

 

Completely unfair. Guys like Davila, Martinez, Zamora, Ferreri, etc. were far from "hapless". They were all solid belt-holders/contenders, all of whom were stopped by Zarate along with solid fighters in guys like Amores and Cabanella. His fight with Pintor, when past his best, showed his worth against the elite class as well. He may not have the depth on his resume that some of his fellow great Bantams did, but I think he proved his class against this bunch just as well, and in about as dominant a fashion as you can.

Zarate for me.

 

I consider Davila Elite. One of the more underrated Bantam operators IMO