Thoughts on this interesting all-Mexican match up? How does Zarate deal with the guy that pretty much had Ruben Olivares' number at Bantamweight? Herrera was a very underrated fighter who would have been a handful for anyone at the weight.
Logic would be an easy win for Zarate but Herrera was a quality fighter. Shame there isn´t much footage of him especially his wars with Rodolfo Martinez. I think Herrera would do well early but Zarate really was a punishing fighter and his power punches (and body work) would break Rafael down by the 10 round. Good match.
Herrera has an argument as a top 10 all-time bantamweight - two wins over Olivares, who was still in his prime but probably not as focussed as he should have been, particularly in the first fight for the title. Herrera also holds wins over Rodolfo Martinez and Chuco Castillo among others. He was an outstanding fighter. I see this as being a tactical matchup that has the potential to break out into a war later on. I think if Herrera can keep it a boxing match, then he has a very good chance of springing another upset. But Zarate was a complete fighter who could box beautifully and was range as well which might give him the edge in a tactical exchange. Of course, he could also punch incredibly hard and I think he’d get to Herrera late as they moved into the championship rounds. Awesome matchup.
I think Olivares started to decline after the 3rd Castillo fight. His title defenses preceding the 1st Herrera fight remind me of Saad Muhammad's last 2-3 performances before the Qawi fight - you could see increasingly evident wear & tear on him w/ each successive fight. Also like Saad vs. Qawi, Olivares was utterly weight drained heading into the 1st Herrera fight as well.
