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Hilario Zapata (born August 19, 1958) is a
Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
nian 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 1977 to 1993. 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) light flyweight title twice between 1980 and 1983, and the
World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded ...
(WBA)
flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight. Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...
title from 1985 to 1987.


Professional career

Zapata began his professional
boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...
career in 1977, beating Victor Lopez by a
knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...
in the second round. He had 2 wins in '77. He had a fast ascent to the top, starting in 1978. By his fifth bout, on July 1, he was meeting former world Flyweight champion Juan Guzmán in
Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...
, beating Guzman by a decision in ten. His next fight, against Yong-Hwang Kim, in
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, was his first fight abroad; he gave himself a twentieth birthday present by beating Kim by a 10-round decision on August 19. Then, he met former world Flyweight champion Alfonso Lopez, for the vacant
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Jr. Flyweight belt. Zapata suffered his first loss in the fight against Lopez, when he was beaten by a decision in 12. He started 1979 with a fight against Ramon Perez in
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, winning by a knockout in nine. He had three more wins in 1979, including one over the two time world Flyweight champion Freddie Castillo, and by the end of that year he was ranked number one in the world among Jr. Flyweight challengers by the WBC. Zapata went to Japan in March 1980, and on the 24th day of that month he beat defending world champion Shigeo Nakajima to become world Jr. Flyweight champion. He defended his title against Chi-Bok Kim, winning a 15-round unanimous decision in South Korea, against Hector Rey Melendez in
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, winning also by a 15-round decision, against Nakajima in a Tokyo rematch, winning by knockout in 11, and against Reynaldo Becerra in Venezuela. He closed out 1980 win a 15-round decision win over Becerra. In 1981, he and future world Flyweight champion Joey Olivo fought what was the only Jr. Flyweight title bout ever broadcast on American national TV live until
Michael Carbajal Michael Carbajal (born September 17, 1967) is an American five-time world boxing champion of Mexican descent. His nickname was "Little Hands of Stone" after his favorite boxer, "Hands of Stone" Roberto Durán. Amateur career Carbajal had an amat ...
came along nine years later. Zapata beat Olivo by a knockout in round 13 to retain his belt, and then, he went to
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to retain the crown once again, with a 15-round decision over Rudy Crawford. On August 15, and back home in Panama City, he beat Mexican
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by a decision in 15 to retain his belt, and then he faced former world Jr. Flyweight champion Netrnoi Sor Vorasingh, retaining the belt by a knockout in 10. In his next fight, on February 6, 1982, Zapata lost the world title by knockout in two at the hands of '' Amado Panterita Ursua'', but Ursua in turn would lose it to Tadashi Tomori. On July 20, Zapata regained the world title by beating Tomori on a 15-round decision in Japan. Then, he beat future world champion and Zapata-conqueror Jung-Koo Chang by a decision in 15 in Chonju, and he closed out the year with a rematch against Tomori in Tokyo, knocking Tomori out in eight rounds. On March 26, 1983, Zapata and Chang met again in South Korea, and this time, Chang became world champion by knocking Zapata out in the third round. Then, on November 9 at
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, on the
Marvin Hagler vs. Roberto Durán Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Marvin Hagler vs. Roberto Durán was a professional boxing match contested on November 10, 1983 for the World Boxing Association, WBA, World Boxing Council, WBC, International Boxing Federation, IBF and The Ring (magazine) ...
's undercard's week, Zapata was beaten by a knockout in 10 by Harold Petty. His career seemingly over, he quickly recovered from those back to back losses and began winning again, but this time as a Flyweight. By the end of 1984, he was ranked number one by the WBA among Flyweights, and on December 8 of that year, he challenged world Flyweight champion
Santos Laciar Santos Benigno Laciar (born January 31, 1959), known familiarly as Santos Laciar and nicknamed Falucho, is an Argentine who was boxing's world flyweight and super flyweight champion. Biography Laciar was born in Huinca Renancó, in the provinc ...
of
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at
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' legendary
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. Zapata lost a 15-round decision that night, but in 1986, after Laciar had vacated the crown, the WBA gave him a second chance, and he beat Alonzo Gonzalez to win the WBA world Flyweight championship. He then beat Javier Lucas to retain the belt. He retained the title also against Shuichi Hozumi, Dodie Penalosa, Alberto Castro and Claudemir Calvalho, all by decision, before losing it to Fidel Bassa of
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, also by a decision. In 1993, he tried to become a world champion once again, but was knocked out in the first round by the WBC world Jr. Bantamweight champion Sung-Kil Moon. A win against Moon would have made Zapata a member of the exclusive group of world boxing champions in three different weight categories or more. It can also be added that Zapata's first pair of boxing gloves, when he was 12, came as a present from Duran himself. Panamanian newspaper '' El Panama America'' declared on one of their editorials that Zapata, according to their opinion, should be inducted to the
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 ...
soon. Zapata eventually was voted into the Hall of Fame, in December 2015, and was inducted during June 2016. Zapata had a record of 43 wins and 10 losses, with 1 draw, and 14 wins by knockout.


Professional boxing record


See also

*
List of southpaw stance boxers This is a list of southpaw stance boxers. Southpaw is a boxing term that designates the stance where the boxer has his right hand and right foot forward, leading with right jabs, and following with a left cross right hook. Southpaw is the normal s ...
* List of world light-flyweight boxing champions *
List of world flyweight boxing champions This is a list of world flyweight boxing champions, as recognized by the four major sanctioning organizations in boxing: * The World Boxing Association (WBA), established in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA). The WBA often recognize up ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zapata, Hilario 1958 births Living people Panamanian male boxers Boxers from Panama City Southpaw boxers World Boxing Council champions World Boxing Association champions World light-flyweight boxing champions World flyweight boxing champions Super-flyweight boxers International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees