The Top 100 Pound for Pound All-Time Greats

Olivares is quite clearly over Zarate IMO

 

You know, Add, I've just seen Zarate...

 

That's not how I remembered them. A Carlos Zarate fight usually consisted of him stalking an over-matched and unmotivated looking opponent who I've never heard of and hitting them with what looked like relatively weak looking punches until they would fall over. I don't know, that might be harsh. I'll stop talking about Zarate until I've gone over footage of him again. As things stands, I really can't see him being as high as you have him. I understand you posted the list so people could give you their thoughts and make suggestions? That's all I'm doing. Suggesting he doesn't deserve to be that high.

What do you think of him? Am I way off base with this one?

 

Well, McGrain pointed out the worth of Martinez, and Davila is there to see in a few fights on youtube to see his worth. He was a damn fine technician and world champ later in his own right. Zarate bludgeoned him. He also deserved the decision against another very underrated guy in Pintor. I actually really like that fight as he shows just how well he can box. He wasn't just the praying mantis left-hooker of legend, he had very real skills. Then there was Zamora, too. He may not have been SRR, but he was good enough to win and defend a world title and be considered one of the very best punchers in that division's history.

As to Zaragoza/Fenech...........well I mean, come on. That was in his second career, literally years removed from the Pintor fight. He was in his mid-30's by then.

Olivares was great too, but to me at least for every amazing Rose-esque showing he had he also seemed to have a non-effort like the first Herrera fight to show for it. In an instance like that, I'll always go with consistency.

 

The thing that seperates Olivares is he could come back from losses.He eventually became inconsistent and likely had an unprofessional lifestyle from when he hit the big time against Rose, so it does reinforce the " could have been even greater had he been dedicated" way of thinking when you see him continually fail to let bad days bother him.

It is a bit of a get out of jail free card if taken too far, i think, but when you compare him to zarate who never looked the same fighter after his first loss...it looks more "badass" or whatever for want of a better word.

the Zarate that fought pintor was an unsure looking fighter that no longer seemed as if he felt himself a destroyer.

 

Can't agree with the one-paced thing, Addie. Watch the Pintor fight and how well he fights off the back foot. He wasn't merely a plodding stalker.

 

I'm not suggesting Zarate should be judged on his past prime showings against the likes of Zaragoza and Fenech, I was just offering a reason for why he isn't held in the same esteem as Ruben Olivares. He doesn't have the same names on his resume as Olivares does, and the only ones most fight fans can recognize hold wins over him - past prime or not. I have to say though, nearly every top 10 Mexicans lists I've ever seen posted on this forum have had Carlos Zarate on them. Perhaps not in the General, but that doesn't count.

 

I guess one could easily look at the Olivares thing as two sides of the same coin; do you give the guy credit for coming back from hard losses, or do you fault him for having the losses in the first place? I tend to be in the latter camp, but can also see how others wouldn't.

As to the Pintor showing for Zarate, I dunno. I thought he looked very good. I have faulted him in that fight for overdoing a good thing, I think that's valid. He should have pressed when he had Pintor down but he still showed the skills, whatever motivation or psychological malady caused him to show them.

 

:yep Absolutely. Why the **** would you listen to what I have to say about Carlos Zarate? I can't even remember any of his fights vividly. Still, I was just a little taken back by how highly you rate him. Even those who acknowledge the quality of his opposition don't usually rate him alongside the likes of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.

It's an interesting list. Quite a few names on there that I really haven't even heard of before. So many fighters, so little time...

 

Pintor fight i should probably watch again.To be honest it's been years since i gave zarate much viewing,i just remember always having thought he didn't look quite the same assured boxer-puncher after Gomez.

I try and take a bit from both sides of the coin for fighters like Olivares.It's a shame we didn't see him fight Herrera over 15 more than once.

 

Do we think Zarate ever dominated a fighter of Chucho Castillo's quality, like Olivares did? Are we suggesting Davila was that good?

 

True. :think Come to think of it, that's where I saw that poll. Morons.

 

I don't know. He just installed my special fish tank. He seemed pretty snippy, if I'm honest. I didn't ask what was wrong.