Editing Carlos Zárate (boxer) (section)

==Professional career==
In 1970, Carlos made his professional debut with a 2-round knockout win over [[Luis Castañeda (boxer)|Luis Castañeda]] in [[Cuernavaca]]. That marked the beginning of a 23-fight knockout winning streak. The only boxers to get past the third round during that streak were Al Torres and Antonio Castañeda, who lasted 5 and 9 rounds respectively, both at [[Tijuana]]. Víctor Ramírez became the first boxer to last the distance with Zárate when Zárate beat him on points in January 1974 in [[Mexico City]] over ten rounds. Next began his second 20 plus knockout wins in a row streak, when none of his next 28 opponents heard the final bell on their feet.

===WBC Bantamweight championship===
After knocking out former world title challenger Néstor Jiménez in two rounds at [[Mexicali]] to end 1975, the [[World Boxing Council|WBC]] made Zárate their number one challenger at the Bantamweight division. So, after beating César Desiga by a knockout in four on March 29, 1976, in [[Monterrey, Mexico|Monterrey]], Zárate was faced on the night of May 8 of that year with defending [[World Boxing Council|WBC]] [[Bantamweight]] Champion [[Rodolfo Martínez]] in [[Los Angeles]]. Zárate became a world Bantamweight champion by knocking his countryman out in the eighth round. Zárate next won two fights by a knockout in the second and then defended it against Paul Ferreri, who lost by knockout in 12 in Los Angeles too. He finished '76 with a four-round knockout over [[Philip Waruinge|Waruinge Nakayama]] in a title defense held at [[Culiacán]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=4997&more=1 |title=Ruben Olivares vs. Carlos Zarate: What If? |publisher=Eastsideboxing.com |date=2005-10-22 |access-date=2012-11-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110914155254/http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=4997&more=1 |archive-date=2011-09-14 }}</ref>

===Fight against WBA Bantamweight champion===
{{Main|Carlos Zarate vs. Alfonso Zamora}}

After beginning 1977 with a third-round knockout win over [[Colombia]]'s Fernando Cabanela in Mexico City, Mexican boxing fans started talking about a possible unification bout between him and fellow Mexican [[Alfonso Zamora]], the [[World Boxing Association|WBA]]'s world Bantamweight champion. Nicknamed by the American boxing press as ''The Z Boys'', the two did square off, but not before much hassle and hurdle putting by both the WBC and WBA, who wanted both boxers to pay a large amount of money before sanctioning the bout. So, the [[California]] state boxing commission decided to sanction it as a ten-round, non-title bout instead. Fans didn't seem to care that no world title belt would be involved that afternoon, and they packed the fight venue when Zárate and Zamora met in the LA suburb of [[Inglewood, California]], at the Forum on April 23 of '77. Zárate made the tactical mistake of going toe to toe with a shorter but harder hitting puncher. Zárate got tagged repeatedly and then a man wearing a white tank top and grey sweat pants entered the ring. The fight was momentarily stopped by referee [[Richard Steele (boxing referee)|Richard Steele]] and a contingent of helmeted policemen stormed the ring, forcibly removing the intruder thereafter, Zárate managed to stay away from Zamora. After a first round, Zárate the better boxer, with a reach advantage stayed away and outboxed Zamora wearing him down then knocking him out in four to gain recognition by most boxing fans as the undisputed world champion of the Bantamweights. Then, he retained the WBC title with a knockout in six over Danilo Batista, and finished 1977 with a trip to Spain, where he retained the belt against challenger [[Juan Francisco Rodríguez]], beaten in five.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=8337&more=1 |title=Carlos Zarate: The Crunching Power Of Zarate |publisher=Eastsideboxing.com |access-date=2012-11-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712202059/http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=8337&more=1 |archive-date=2012-07-12 }}</ref>

In 1978, Zárate started out by meeting future world champion [[Alberto Dávila]], whom he knocked out in eight at Los Angeles to retain his belt. Then, in April of that year, he made his first of two trips to [[Puerto Rico]] that year, to fight challenger [[Andres Hernández (boxer)|Andres Hernandez]], who lasted until the 13th. round at [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]]'s [[Roberto Clemente]] coliseum.

====Zárate vs. Gómez====
{{Main|Wilfredo Gómez vs. Carlos Zárate}}

After retaining the title against Emilio Hernandez by a knockout in four and winning a non-title bout, Zárate announced he was moving up in weight and challenging the [[World Boxing Council|WBC]] [[Super Bantamweight]] champion, [[Wilfredo Gómez]]. According to many experts and the [[Ring Magazine]] book [[The Ring: Boxing In The 20th Century]], Gómez and Zárate had the highest knockout win percentage of any two champions paired inside a ring in a world title fight: When Gómez and Zárate met on October 28, also at Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, the challenger and still world Bantamweight champion Zárate was 52–0 with 51 knockouts, while defending world Super Bantamweight champion Gómez was 21-0-1 with 21 knockouts. Zárate went to the floor four times and tasted the sour taste of defeat for the first time in his career when he was beaten by a knockout in five rounds.

====Return to Bantamweight====
In 1979, Zárate made what would turn out to be his last successful defense, with a third-round knockout win over Mensah Kpalongo in Los Angeles. After winning a non-title bout against Celso Cháirez by a knockout in five in [[Houston, Texas]], Zárate met gym-mate [[Lupe Pintor]] in Las Vegas and lost a close and controversial 15-round decision. Enraged by losing a decision he (as well as many fans) thought undeserved, he announced his retirement from boxing and vowed never to fight as a professional again.

===Five year retirement===
Zárate spent five years in retirement, but the temptation of the public adulation boxers receive when they become champions and the aroma of the boxing ring led him back into competition as a boxer. Despite still retaining an acceptable amount of his boxing ability, Zárate was nonetheless, a shadow of what he was before his 5-year retirement. In his return bout in 1986 against Adam García, he won a four-round decision. 11 more victories in a row, all by knockout, including one over then number one world Super Bantamweight challenger Richard Savage (knocked out by Zárate in five in Mexico City), made him the WBC's number one challenger at the Super Bantamweight division once again.<ref>{{cite web |author=Jaliam Break Studios |url=http://www.mademan.com/mm/10-best-mexican-boxers-ever.html |title=10 Best Mexican Boxers Ever &#124; Made Manual |publisher=Mademan.com |date=2010-03-13 |access-date=2012-11-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121219092824/http://www.mademan.com/mm/10-best-mexican-boxers-ever.html |archive-date=2012-12-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

And so, in October 1987, he traveled to Australia to meet the man boxing fans consider to be the greatest Australian world champion of all time: [[Jeff Fenech]]. In a fight contested for Fenech's world Super Bantamweight title, Zárate lost by a four-round technical decision. After Fenech vacated the title soon after to pursue the world Featherweight crown, Zárate and countryman [[Daniel Zaragoza]] met for the vacant world championship belt, but Zárate came back on the losing end once again, being knocked out in the tenth round and finally announcing his retirement for good.

During the 1990s he also became a member of the [[International Boxing Hall Of Fame]], and in 2003, he and [[Wilfredo Gómez]] met at a boxing undercard in Puerto Rico to commemorate the 25th anniversary of their boxing bout.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Carlos_Zarate |title=Carlos Zarate - Boxrec Boxing Encyclopaedia |publisher=Boxrec.com |access-date=2012-11-07}}</ref>

He had a record of 66 wins and 4 losses as a professional boxer, with 63 wins by knockout.

Carlos Zárate was voted as the Greatest Bantamweight Ever in 2014 by the Houston Boxing Hall Of Fame. The HBHOF is a voting body composed entirely of current and former fighters.