Daniel Zaragoza (born December 11, 1957) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 1997. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the World Boxing Council (WBC) bantamweight title in 1985 and the WBC super bantamweight 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 title with a disqualification victory over Freddie Jackson in Aruba.

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 member Jeff Fenech in Australia.

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 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 South Korea 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 South Korea 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 Super Bantamweight 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 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, 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 International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes66Loss55–8–3Érik MoralesKO11 (12), Sep 6, 199765Win55–7–3Joichiro TatsuyoshiUD12Apr 14, 199764Win54–7–3Wayne McCulloughSD12Jan 11, 199763Win53–7–3Tsuyoshi HaradaTKO7 (12), Jul 20, 199662Win52–7–3Joichiro TatsuyoshiTKO11 (12), Mar 3, 199661Win51–7–3Hector Acero SánchezSD12Nov 6, 199560Draw50–7–3Hector Acero SánchezMD12Jun 2, 199559Win50–7–2José SanabriaUD10Feb 11, 199558Win49–7–2Wilfredo VargasKO7 (?)Oct 22, 199457Win48–7–2Nino RuizTKO4 (?)Aug 11, 199456Win47–7–2 Wilfredo UrbinaTKO5 (?)Jul 1, 199455Win46–7–2Juan Francisco SotoUD10Jun 11, 199454Win45–7–2Alejandro BatistaRTD2 (10), Dec 4, 199353Loss44–7–2Tracy Harris PattersonTKO7 (12), Sep 25, 199352Draw44–6–2Tracy Harris PattersonSD12Dec 5, 199251Loss44–6–1Thierry JacobUD12Mar 20, 199250Win44–5–1 Paul BankeUD12Dec 9, 199149Win43–5–1Joon HuhUD12Aug 24, 199148Win42–5–1Kiyoshi HatanakaSD12Jun 14, 199147Win41–5–1Moi HernandezPTS10Apr 5, 199146Loss40–5–1Paul BankeTKO9 (12), Apr 23, 199045Win40–4–1Park Chan-yongSD12Dec 3, 198944Win39–4–1Frankie DuarteTKO10 (12), Aug 31, 198943Win38–4–1Paul BankeSD12Jun 22, 198942Win37–4–1Valerio NatiKO5 (12), Nov 26, 198841Draw36–4–1Seung Hoon LeeSD12May 29, 198840Win36–4Carlos Zárate SernaTKO10 (12), Feb 29, 198839Win35–4Noe GonzalezKO7 (?)Dec 17, 198738Win34–4Darryl ThigpenPTS12Jul 31, 198737Win33–4Ramiro AdamesTKO5 (10)Jun 28, 198736Win32–4Aaron LopezUD12Apr 3, 198735Win31–4Mike AyalaKO7 (12), Dec 6, 198634Win30–4Raul NegreteTKO7 (?)Aug 29, 198633Win29–4Antonio GonzalezPTS10Jul 4, 198632Loss28–4Jeff FenechUD10Apr 11, 198631Loss28–3Miguel LoraUD12Aug 9, 198530Win28–2Fred JacksonDQ7 (12), May 4, 198529Win27–2Jorge RamirezPTS12Nov 30, 198428Win26–2Jorge RamirezDQ11 (12)Sep 21, 198427Win25–2Mario GomezTKO3 (12)May 21, 198426Win24–2Patrick YoungTKO4 (?)Mar 16, 198425Win23–2Javier MarquezTKO5 (12)Feb 18, 198424Win22–2Rigoberto EstradaPTS12Dec 16, 198323Win21–2Rodolfo MartínezTKO11 (12)Oct 29, 198322Win20–2Martin TorresTKO5 (12)Sep 26, 198321Loss19–2Harold PettyUD12Aug 8, 198320Win19–1 Jesus LopezPTS12May 27, 198319Win18–1 Rigoberto EstradaPTS12Mar 18, 198318Win17–1Lorenzo RamirezPTS10Jan 29, 198317Win16–1 Jesus LopezPTS12Nov 29, 198216Win15–1 Jorge RamirezPTS12Sep 4, 198215Loss14–1Harold PettyUD10Jul 29, 198214Win14–0Ramon ConchaTKO2 (?)Apr 23, 198213Win13–0Francisco Paco MayoTKO5 (?)Mar 5, 198212Win12–0Miguel JuarezPTS10Feb 12, 198211Win11–0Mario ChavezPTS10Nov 21, 198110Win10–0Julio AvendanoKO4 (?)Oct 30, 19819Win9–0Javier MarquezTKO8 (?)Sep 16, 19818Win8–0Rayito GonzalezTKO4 (10)Aug 28, 19817Win7–0Alonzo GonzalezPTS10Jul 22, 19816Win6–0Roque GuillenTKO3 (?)Jun 27, 19815Win5–0Jose ZapataPTS10May 15, 19814Win4–0Jesus MaravillaKO2 (?)Mar 29, 19813Win3–0Joel SeguraKO10 (10)Feb 21, 19812Win2–0Porfirio UrrutiaTKO3 (?)Dec 19, 19801Win1–0Mario Ernesto GutierrezKO4 (?)Oct 17, 1980

See also List of Mexican boxing world champions List of world bantamweight boxing champions List of world super-bantamweight boxing champions

References

External links

International Boxing Hall of Fame Biography