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Aaron “La Cobra” Zarate,
the former WBF World
Super Featherweight Champion,
was born on October 15,
1969 in Mexico City. As boxing
was a very popular sport in his
neighborhood, it was the natural
activity for him to devote his
time to, and it turned out that
he had talent for it.
Zarate made his professional
debut in September of 1988, on a
small show at the Arena
Revolucion in Mexico City, and
won the fight when he scored a
unanimous decision over six
rounds against another debutant
called Jesus Capistran.
Later that same month he also
won his second pro bout,
knocking out Juan Ramirez (0-0)
in two rounds, but he finished
the year by losing on a fifth
round technical knockout in
November to another undefeated
prospect in Carlos Gonzalez
(3-0).
After his first set-back, Zarate
went on a fifteen-fight winning
streak, and was emerging among
the many promising up-and-comers
in Mexico. So it was quite the
surprise when he was stopped by
journeyman Jose Mendez (9-10) in
November 1991.
It was a big blow to the
momentum he had build since his
first loss, three years earlier,
and it would be more than seven
months before Zarate made his
return. But when he did, he did
so in style as he stopped the
very capable Juan Marchena
(15-2-3) in round eight of their
June 27, 1992 encounter.
In September of 1992 “La Cobra”
was matched tough again,
squaring off with fellow
prospect Ricardo Vasquez (15-1).
Zarate lost the fight on points
after ten competitive rounds,
and while he didn’t get his
hands raised in victory he
proved his level and the fight
would mark the beginning of his
best years in the ring.
In November 1992 he stopped
former and future Mexican
national champion Jesus
Rodriguez (17-2) in round six.
Rodriguez was on a three fight
winning-run, and had gone the
distance with future IBO world
champion Jeff Mayweather in his
most recent defeat.
Next up was Abe Gomez (15-7-1),
whom Zarate beat on points at
the tradition-rich Great Western
Forum in Inglewood, California,
USA in April 1993. In November
of 1993 he captured the Mexican
national title, beating Jesus
Rodriguez (now 21-3) again, and
at 21-3 (13) he was getting
closer and closer to making his
mark on the world scene.
In his next fight, in March
1994, Zarate out-pointed Narciso
Valenzuela (34-14-2), who would
go on to challenge Regilio Tuur
for the WBO World Championship
and lose on points after a
valiant effort. Beating
Valenzuela convincingly was a
sign that Zarate was ready for
bigger challenges.
In July of 1994 he defended his
Mexican national Super
Featherweight crown with an
underwhelming draw against
Francisco Martinez Laguna
(19-18-1), and in November he
stopped Ramon Sanchez (2-3-2) in
eleven rounds to retain the
title and set up his careers
biggest opportunity.
By seeing off Sanchez, Zarate
was ready to travel to Durban in
South Africa to challenge
reigning WBF World Super
Featherweight ruler Ditau Paul
Molefyane (28-6) at the Village
Green on December 3. Making his
second title-defense, Molefyane
was the favorite, but Zarate had
other ideas.
Fighting in the main event of a
big show promoted by World
Sports Promotions, Zarate was
focused and determined from the
start, and often forced the
defending champion on the
back-foot as he landed heavy
shots to both body and head.
Much
to the dismay of the local
boxing fans, Zarate was clearly
the better boxer on the night,
and he was ahead on the
scorecards when a disgruntled
Molefyane retired before the
sixth round with an eye injury.
It was a marvelous performance
by Zarate, who had now realized
his dream of winning a world
title.
Unfortunately his days as a
top-level fighter would soon
come to an end. After six months
as world champion, Zarate lost a
third fight with old rival Jesus
Rodriguez (now 27-5) by close
decision. The WBF title was not
on the line, and Zarate seemed
less hungry and focused in his
approach to the fight.
That was not the case when he
scored a huge victory by split
decision over undefeated future
IBF world champion Carlos
Hernandez (21-0-1) at Caesars
Tahoe in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, USA
in September 1995. But it would
be the last hurrah for Zarate,
and he only won one of his next
eight bouts.
He retired after losing a split
decision to Philadelphia-based
Ukrainian Volodymyr Katkivskyy
(12-1) on May 21, 1995, with a
final record of 26-11-1 (16) and
never having defended the WBF
title. He reached the top when
he beat Molefyane in South
Africa, but he didn’t manage to
capitalize properly on that
amazing achievement.
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