The strange thing is that no sanctioning body saw it as a unified fight, which left the tournament officially scheduled for 10 rounds despite the fact that there were champions of this division. That technology has done nothing to diminish its importance.
Zárate entered with an impressive 45-0 record with 44 strikeouts. Zamora was 29-0 with 29 strikeouts. Their combined record stands at an impressive 74-0 with 73 strikes, making it one of the most explosive matchups in boxing history.
The feud went outside the ring. Both men trained under Arturo Hernández before business disagreements split their camps. Hernández's decision to sell Zamora's promotional contract to Alfonso Zamora Sr led to a years-long public feud between the two groups, fueling great excitement throughout Mexico and Latin America.
Around 14,000 fans packed the Forum, while authorities deployed riot police across the stadium, anticipating potential trouble. They were needed almost immediately.
Just 52 seconds into the opening round, a drunken spectator climbed into the ring before the police quickly escorted him out. Once order was restored, the battle lived up to the hype.
Zamora started aggressively, using quick feet and heavy hooks to pressure the taller champion. He landed a few solid shots and briefly swarmed Zárate late in the round, doing just enough to close out the opening three minutes. The momentum shifted in the second.
Zárate began to find his range behind a strong jab and sharp combinations. A left combination rocked Zamora, though the WBA champion countered with his punches before the bell. However, good timing and Zárate's reach began to dominate the battle. The third round was successful.
Zárate avoided Zamora's increasingly wide punches and punished him with cool counters. His jab split the guard apart repeatedly before he landed a pair of hooks in close. As Zamora's pace slowed, Zárate trapped him near the ropes and scored the first late in the round. Zamora defeated them, but returned to his corner badly injured. It didn't last long.
Zárate came out furious in the fourth, dropping Zamora early with a series of left hooks. Moments after the restart, another punishing attack took Zamora down for the second time. Seeing his son being beaten and unable to defend himself, Alfonso Zamora Sr. threw in the towel, prompting referee Richard Steele to stop the contest and award Zárate with a fourth-round knockout. The chaos was not over.
Soon after the suspension, Zamora Sr. confronted Hernández, accusing him of putting a foreign object in Zárate's gloves. The two camps almost came to blows before riot police entered the ring and restored order.
The victory cemented Zárate's reputation as one of boxing's greatest bantamweights. He made five defenses of his WBC title before losing a classic split decision to Lupe Pintor in 1979. Later, he challenged the great Wilfredo Gómez for the WBC junior featherweight championship and eventually earned induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
For Zamora, the defeat was a turning point. Although fans continued to praise him for accepting one of boxing's most dangerous challenges, he was never the same. He lost his WBA title to Jorge Luján in his next fight and retired before the end of the decade after winning only four of his eight belts.
Nearly 50 years later, the “Battle of the Z Boys” remains one of boxing's greatest short fights, a four-round classic that delivered what fans were hoping for when two undefeated fighters risked everything to decide who was the true king of Mexico's bantamweight division.
