I was a big Zarate fan but Olivares? geez he's tough. I sorta think Carlos could outbox him, but I wouldn't bet anything on it.
Zarate by decision. The height and reach advantages will stand him in good stead. He's also durable enough to handle anything Oliver's throws at him and the power to keep him honest.
I'll go with Olivares...if he's at his absolute peak...any other version gets stopped ala Herrera. With that, I'll say Olivares by a 15 round decision...with both men on the deck once apiece.
Hey Red! I concur with Olivares at each fighter's peak. Herrera showed what could be done with Olivares if he tried to "phone in one" or fought complacent. Remember our conversation about the 1972 fight between Olivarez and Herrera? We both found it on page four of our respective sports sections; Olivarez belly down, covered with blood and Herrera wearing a sombrero on his fans shoulders blowing kisses to the crowd! My late friend and I had seen Herrera against...R. Martinez?...several months earlier and saw that triple left hook from Herrera...oh my god! We knew he may have the tools to dismantle Olivares if he was "on"! Blessings!
Title bout: 1972-03-19 : Rafael Herrera 118 lbs beat Ruben Olivares 118 lbs by KO at 1:28 in round 8 of 15 Location: El Toreo de Cuatro Caminos, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico Referee: Ray Solis 70-66 Judge: Pedro Mendoza 70-66 Judge: Garcia Prado 70-65 "Rafael Herrera became the world's new bantamweight boxing champion Sunday night when he knocked out defending monarch Ruben Olivares in the 8th round of a scheduled 15 rounder. Olivares had been the overwhelming favorite but Herrera took the initiative from the beginning. He opened the champion's right eyebrow in the 6th round and kept hammering away at Olivares' face in the 7th and 8th rounds. Olivares went down under a tremendous right to the chin by Herrera at 1:28 of the 8th round and failed to recover by the time Mexican referee Ray Solis had counted to 10. Olivares said it cost him "much sacrifice" to get down to the 118 lb. limit of the bantamweight division." -United Press International Olivares immediately stated he would be moving up to the featherweight division. Purses: Olivares - $70,000, Herrera - $10,000 Post fight comment "I'm sorry I beat you but I need the money." -Rafael Herrera to Ruben Olivares Later "over the bantamweight limit" fight 1972-11-14 : Ruben Olivares 121½ lbs lost to Rafael Herrera 120 lbs by MD in round 10 of 10 Location: Forum, Inglewood, California, USA Referee: Larry Rozadilla 4-6 Judge: Lee Grossman 4-6 Judge: Chuck Hassett 5-5 "In the other top bout, Rafael Herrera proved he should be first in line for a title shot and proved it was no mistake when he stripped the title from Olivares by beating him again via majority decision in 10 rounds. Herrera was the more polished boxer of the two and was carefully pacing himself while jabbing the flat-footed Olivares, who came in a pound and a half over the contracted 120 limit. Herrera took advantage of Olivares' wandering mind in the 7th round and landed a left hook that send Ruben back-peddling to the canvas, more surprised than hurt. The last three rounds were all-out war, with both fighters landing punishing blows. Olivares got in the better shots, but it was all too late as Herrera had surmounted too much of an early lead." -Pasadena Star-News The Star-News report had unofficially scored the bout even, but did not disclose a point total. Unofficial UPI scorecard - 6-2 Herrera Olivares originally weighed in at 123 1/2, but after 40 minutes in a steam room, he finally weighed in at an acceptable, but over contract limit of 121 1/2. This bout was one of 4 ten rounders. the other bouts on the card were Enrique Pinder vs. Chucho Castillo, Rodolfo Martinez vs. Beaver Kajimoto and Famosito Gomez vs. Ely Axinto. Attendance - 19,200 Gate - $222,657 Post fight comment: "It didn't effect my fighting...I just couldn't get excited about the fight." -Ruben Olivares, explaining coming in over the contracted limit of 120.
Zarate by KO. Great as he was Ruben got caught a lot and was reliably unreliable in his conditioning. Zarate was a murderous puncher, one of the greatest LB4LB who ever lived. One slip and Ruben is gone. And I think there is a good chance he slips.
The flip side is Olivares hits harder than Pintor, and probably equal to Zamora. Olivares would go out on his shield no matter how the fight goes.
I shade toward Zarate by late stoppage. I actually think he's become a touch underrated in recent years after being extremely highly regarded a few decades ago.
Hi jowcol..how are you bud? Yes, I was similarly impressed with Herrera...and how conclusively he did the deed on Olivares. He beat him up, outboxed him like a matador, bloodied him, and then finally decided to lower the boom for the night in a most impressive way.
He has become underrated and a bit forgotten on here which is why I thought of this matchup. I figured a focused Ruben had the better skills and could box his way to a decision win if he stays focused but its nip and tuck man.
Undersized Olivares was competitive with the FW Alexis Arquello until late in the fight. Olivares would have been an ideal Jr. FW champ if it had existed, until W. Gomez showed up.
Really surprised people are favoring Zarate more so than Olivares here. Olivares was absolutely phenomenal at his peak. Zarate never slipped like Olivares did so I think that colors peoples opinions.