So with the recent passing of Israel Vasquez I'm watching one of his old fights vs Marcos Licona and one of the commentators mentioned that Vasquez had 58 wins and 58 stoppages as an amateur. I've never heard of a 100 percent KO ratio in the amateurs that's some record and a nice bit of trivia for anyone who didn't know including me.
I loved Vasquez, he was an amazing fighter. It isn't 100%, but, if remember correctly, South African Heavyweight, Courage Tshbalala was something like 70-1 with 70 knockouts in the amateur ranks. I was really looking for big things from him as a pro. Unfortunately, he fell apart after stepping up his competition a bit against Darroll Wilson, and, was never the same.
The only source I can find for that 58-0 figure is a Sports Illustrated article from 2008 - and even that, the way it's worded, it's unclear whether they're saying his full record was 58-0 or simply that he had a streak of 58 kayo victories without a loss (still mightily impressive if true). An article from the LNP in Lancaster, PA reporting on his death this week mentions, in somewhat direct contradiction of SI, that his amateur career "wasn't very good" - but doesn't elaborate numerically. Hard data on Mexican amateurs (particularly teenagers who aren't on the international tourney circuit, and even more so particularly if you're going as far back as the 90s and earlier) is notoriously difficult to scrounge up. Even searching in Spanish.
I haven't been in touch with him for many years now, but used to correspond with Frank Espinoza (Izzy's manager/friend). I could try emailing him to ask about the amateur record, if he knows (they didn't meet until Izzy was already a pro), and if he's still using that account - but probably not anytime too soon, as he's still in mourning.
