His alleged cold hadnt taken place the week of the fight with Gomez and he had not gotten robbed against Pintor? The two last losses I almost dint even count them against him TBH.
I think he was always up against it in Puerto Rico, cold or otherwise. The Pintor fight is not really a robbery, in my opinion. It was a very difficult fight to score, with Pintor pressing hard and Zarate boxing well but never dominating.
Very possible. I do believe he was sick going in against Gomez based on the SI story on the fight. Gomez also got away with breaking rules. I scored the Pintor fight as a UD for Zarate. Remember being stunned by that decision. I also don't hold the later losses against him.
You have to remember that Zarate was the one moving up to Super Bantamweight to face Gomez. Although I still think Gomez would have always been a stylistic nightmare for him. I think it's possible that had Zarate chose to just stay at Bantamweight without moving up to fight Gomez and also ended up getting the decision against Pintor he could have retired with a nice unbeaten record.
I recall the look on Pintors face when he was announced the winner against Zarate , he was as surprised as anyone. Zarate just didn't look like himself against Gomez and maybe he would never beat Wilfredo but to me it was clear he wasn't right for the Gomez fight
I've always felt that Zarate never really lived up to his fullest potential b/c he didn't develop his long range boxing skills as much as he potentially could've/should've - instead, he typically gave up his height/reach advantages & looked to work instead vs. shorter opponents. I think that weakness in his game was exposed by Gomez, who foiled Zarate's attempts to make the fight on his usual terms. & even though I thought Zarate deserved the nod over Pintor, it was an uncharacteristically cautious & lackluster performance from him. I've always suspected that the shellacking he received from Gomez + time spent as Pintor's sparring partner made him a bit gun-shy about imposing his usual fight.
Love Zarate. Before the stoppgage, he could've beaten Fenech imo. All in all, He got whooped by a once in a generation ATG talent at Gomez' natural weight class. Gomez' actions were shameful, but Zarate didn't have a chance that night.
He didn't show much against Gomez to suggest he would have a strong chance regardless of where or when that fight took place. It's not like he was doing well then gassed out unusually...he got his face smashed in, albeit helped by the fact that Gibbs lost control of the fight/had embraced corruption. Gomez wasn't a big 122 lber cutting down from feather either, he was a bantam sized guy that had opted to fight at 122 because it was easier to lead a less than spartan lifestyle and still make weight - he was smaller than Zarate physically, but had the fact he was adjusted to the weight in his favour. Had he not lost the controversial fight with Pintor, the performance there (it was a close competitive fight) does suggest that going undefeated for the rest of his career would be tough if he keeps regularly fighting good comp. There was nobody around on the Bantam scene circa 77-81 that would be favoured to win clear over the one that fought Pintor, so it's not impossible depending on when he retires. But if that was the standard he was going to show going forward then he might end up losing to Pintor in a rematch (or maybe he puts clear distance between them and regains the swagger of pre-Gomez), or in a tight one against Chandler, Lujan, Murata...I doubt Davila had the physical ability to ever get as close as Pintor, but he could give him a tougher fight after gaining more experience....but it's also quite likely he could navigate his way through close fights with them all and then retire
I agree with this, up at SBW I'd favour the more explosive Gomez, who had a 100% KO record in his 18 title fights in that division, regardless of whether Zarate had a cold. Had he boxed his entire career at BW, got a fair decision via Pintor and never made a come back 7-years after his initial retirement, he'd have likely had a 100% win ratio, imo.
Yeah the loss to Zarate seemed way out of character… if they’d had a rematch I’d bet the house on CZ if he was well, I also think he should’ve got the stoppage over Fenech considering it was Jeff’s fault the bloody cut opened.
