Daniel Zaragoza (born December 11, 1957) is a Mexican former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who competed from 1980 to 1997. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

(WBC)

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

title in 1985 and the WBC

super bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanct ...

title twice between 1988 and 1997.

Amateur career

* 1979 Represented Mexico as a bantamweight at the Pan-American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Results were: ** Defeated Alfonso Abata (Ecuador) ** Lost to Jackie Beard (United States) points * Represented Mexico as a bantamweight at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Results were: ** Defeated Philip Sutcliffe Snr (Ireland) points ** Defeated Ray Gilbody (Great Britain) points ** Lost to Michael Anthony (Guyana) TKO by 2

Professional career

In October 1980, Zaragoza won his pro debut against Ernesto Gutierrez.

WBC Bantamweight Championship

In 1985 he captured the vacant WBC

Bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

title with a disqualification victory over Freddie Jackson in

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. He lost his title in his first defense to Miguel "Happy" Lora. In his next bout in 1986, he suffered a non-title loss to IBF Bantamweight Champion and future

International Boxing Hall of Fame The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, right next to exit 34 of the New York State Thruway, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected on ballots cre ...

member

Jeff Fenech Jeff Fenech (born 28 May 1964) is an Australians, Australian former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2008. He List of boxing triple champions, won world titles in three weight divisions, having held the International Boxing Feder ...

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WBC Super Bantamweight Championship

Zaragoza moved up in weight in his next bout and scored 7 consecutive wins before capturing the vacant WBC

Super Bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanct ...

title with a knockout win over future hall of fame member Carlos Zarate in 1988 in the tenth round of a fight scheduled for twelve rounds. He successfully retained the title five times, including a hard-fought draw in

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against IBF Super Bantamweight champion Lee Seung-hoon, a knockout victory against future champion Valerio Nati in Italy, a decision victory over Paul Banke (16–3–0) in the first fight of their trilogy, a knockout victory against Frankie Duarte (47–7–1), and a decision victory over former champion Chan-Yong Park in South Korea. In 1990, he lost the belt to Paul Banke whom he had defeated just three fights prior. Banke would go on to lose the title by knockout against Pedro Ruben Decima, who in turn was knocked out by Kiyoshi Hatanaka. In 1991, Zaragoza regained the belt with a split decision win over Hatanaka in Japan. He defended the belt against Chun Huh (25–2–0) of

and avenged his loss to Paul Banke. In 1992, he lost his title to Thierry Jacob by decision in France. In his next two fights he battled newly crowned WBC super bantamweight titleholder Tracy Harris Patterson, who had recently defeated Jacob. He fought to a draw with Patterson in the first bout and lost by technical knockout in the second bout when the fight was stopped due to a cut despite the objections of Zaragoza.

Oldest Super Bantamweight Champion

In 1995 he would yet again get another crack at the title against WBC

champion Hector Acero Sánchez, who had defeated Tracy Harris Patterson to win the title. The bout was controversially ruled a draw with most observers believing Zaragoza should have been declared the winner. He fought a rematch with Sánchez later in the year and won the belt via split decision. At 36 years 11 months, he became the oldest super bantamweight champion in history. This began a late-career surge for Zaragoza who was able to defend the title four times, including two wins against former and future champion

Joichiro Tatsuyoshi is a former World Boxing Council (WBC) world bantamweight champion from Kurashiki, Okayama, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan. His record is 20–7–1 (14 KOs). He is popular for his fight style and unique personality, and has appeared in several tele ...

in Japan, a tko win over Tsuyoshi Harada (20–1–0) also in Japan, and an upset win against undefeated bantamweight champion Wayne McCullough who had recently moved up in weight. On Sep 6, 1997, he lost his title to then-undefeated 21-year-old

Erik Morales Erik Isaac Morales Elvira (born September 1, 1976) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2012. He is the first Mexico-born boxer in history to quadruple champion, win world championships in four weight classes, rangin ...

, who knocked out Zaragoza in the 11th round. Zaragoza retired after the bout at the age of 39 with a record of 55–8–3.

Retirement

He was inducted to the

in 2004.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

*
International Boxing Hall of Fame Biography
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaragoza, Daniel 1957 births Living people Mexican male boxers Boxers from Mexico City Boxers at the 1979 Pan American Games Pan American Games competitors for Mexico Olympic boxers for Mexico Boxers at the 1980 Summer Olympics World bantamweight boxing champions World super-bantamweight boxing champions World Boxing Council champions International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century Mexican sportsmen