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 bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

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

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. 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 is derived from Ba ...

title in 1985 and the WBC

super bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a 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 sanctioning organizations or ...

title 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 Jackie Beard (born September 10, 1961) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 1995, twice challenging for the WBA super featherweight title between 1989 and 1990. As an amateur, he won a gold medal at the 1979 Pan Ameri ...

(United States) points * Represented Mexico as a bantamweight at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Results were: ** Defeated

Philip Sutcliffe Philip Sutcliffe Sr. (born 10 November 1959) is a former boxer and two-time Olympian. He competed at the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games. Additionally, he was the winner of four national titles in Ireland, two at bantamweight and one each at lightfly ...

(Ireland) points ** Defeated

Ray Gilbody Ray Gilbody (born 21 March 1960) is a British former boxer who after a successful amateur career held the British bantamweight title between 1985 and 1987, and fought for the European title twice in 1986. Amateur career Born in Southport and ra ...

(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. 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 is derived from Ba ...

title with a disqualification victory over

Freddie Jackson Frederick Anthony Jackson (born October 2, 1956) is an American singer. Originally from New York, Jackson began his professional music career in the late 1970s with the California funk band Mystic Merlin. Among his well–known R&B/soul hits are ...

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...

. He lost his title in his first defense to

Miguel "Happy" Lora Miguel Lora Escudero (born April 12, 1961 in Montería, Córdoba), known as Miguel Lora or "Happy" Lora is a Colombian boxer. He reigned as the WBC bantamweight champion of the world from 1985 to 1988. Beginnings and world title Lora started ...

. In his next bout in 1986, he suffered a non-title loss to

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

Bantamweight Champion and future

International Boxing Hall of Fame The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...

member

Jeff Fenech Jeff Fenech (born 28 May 1964) is an Australian former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2008. He won world titles in three weight divisions, having held the IBF bantamweight title from 1985 to 1987, the WBC super-bantamweight ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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 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 sanctioning organizations or ...

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

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

against IBF Super Bantamweight champion

Lee Seung-hoon Lee Seung-hoon (Hangul: 이승훈, Hanja: , ; born 6 March 1988) is a South Korean speed skater. He won a gold medal in the 10,000 metres, a silver medal in the 5000 meters at the 2010 Winter Olympics, becoming the first and only Asian man ...

, 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 Tracy Harris Patterson, (born on December 26, 1964), is an American former boxer who became a two weight world champion. Born Tracy Harris in Grady, Alabama, he is the adopted son of former Golden Gloves and world heavyweight champion Floyd Patt ...

, 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, Japan. His record is 20–7–1 (14 KOs). He is popular for his fight style and unique personality, and has appeared in several television variety shows ...

in Japan, a tko win over Tsuyoshi Harada (20-1-0) also in Japan, and an upset win against undefeated bantamweight champion

Wayne McCullough Wayne Pocket Rocket McCullough (born Wayne William McCullough; 7 July 1970) is a former professional boxer from Northern Ireland who competed from 1993 to 2008. He held the WBC bantamweight title from 1995 to 1997, becoming the first boxer fr ...

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 win world titles in four different weight classes, having held the WBC ...

, 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 of 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