Editing Carlos Zárate (boxer) (section)

===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.