Carlos Zarate info

I'm not sure he was allowed to do any better against Gomez. He was just in with a better fighter than himself. At least I've always considered that to be the case.

 

What happened against Fenech was that he was far, far past his prime, coming off a nearly 7 year retirement.

What happened against Gomez was that he moved up in weight against the best fighter that division had ever seen. I've also heard he had the flu or some such sickness and didn't come it at 100% for that one. He'd never have beaten Gomez, though.

 

Zarate looked terribly shot to me in the late 80s, especially against Zaragoza. A sad sight. There was no point in him retiring only to come back 8 years later.

I wonder how both men came in overweight to the Gomez-Zarate fight. A problem with the scales perhaps or did they just not care about making weight for such a big fight? I know Gomez wasn't always the most dedicated trainer and Zarate may or may not have been sick.

 

It's amazing how these stories always come up after a fighter loses.

 

I asked Johnny Bos who was the greatest fighter he ever saw.
Zarate was the answer. Pretty impressive.

 

Except it was well known at the time Zarate had been ill and struggled with the weight before the bout.

I don't recall it even being banded around as an excuse for losing afterward.

Now if it had been Azumah Nelson who had been annihilated....

 

Any sources? I'm curious.

 

I wouldn't say well-known considering that Zarate was a heavy favorite to win. His manager did claim to know it, but put him in there with Gomez anyway thinking Zarate was too good for him. Foolish move if true as Gomez certainly couldn't be treated as any push-over at the time.

Gomez-Zarate was also one of the more classless displays I've seen on the part of Gomez who seemed to have no respect for anybody.

 

So the story only surfaced after the fact?

 

Really? That is interesting seeing as how highly Gomez was regarded, although I suppose a lot of the praise must've come after the Zarate fight.

Oh yeah, that's why I love him. He seemed to think "the audacity of this ******* for getting in the ring with me". Seemed legitimately annoyed when the ref halted the beating he was giving to Juan Antonio Lopez in their first fight as well. He had that killer streak. Loved to hurt people. I guess that's why he was so good at it (also probably one of the reasons he started to deteriorate as a technician come to think of it).

 

According to the Los Angeles Times atleast.

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/643677872.html?dids=643677872:643677872&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Oct+28%2C+1978&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Zarate+2-1+Choice+Over+Gomez&pqatl=google

Pittsburgh Press also mentions Zarate being the favorite.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...g=2239,4918038&dq=gomez+zarate+favorite&hl=en

Not crazy odds or anything but it seems the general feeling was that Zarate would win.

 

Good stuff, A.

 

Typical dumb management move.

Took a mega fight in San Juan, home of Gomez. Should have got a "neutral" site like Las Vegas (Sal Sanchez got his fight in LV vs Gomez)

Was ill & overweight.

Gomez hit him while he was down....Gomez should have been DQ'ed..but that would have never happened in San Juan.

 

Gomez had phenomenal footwork and balance,excellent timing and some really good upper-body movement - he never gave Zarate the chance to commit to a sustained attack,and I've always viewed Zarate as a heavy handed mechanic rather than the explosive knockout artist that many others view him as.



He was washed up against Fenech and fighting a relentless beast that I suppose was hitting his peak around that point.