Born August 19, 1958 in Panama City, Panama. An agile southpaw, Zapata began boxing as an amateur in 1974 before making his professional debut in 1977.
Unusually tall for a 108-pound boxer, the 5’ 7” Zapata captured the WBC light flyweight title in 1980 via 15-round decision. Eight successful title defenses followed before losing his title to Amado Ursua in 1982. He recaptured the title from Tadashi Tomori and defended it two times before dropping the title to Jung-Koo Chang in South Korea. In 1984 Zapata unsuccessfully challenged Santos Laciar (L 15) for the WBA flyweight title. The next year Zapata won the vacant WBA crown from Alonzo Gonzalez (W 15) and registered 5 successful defenses of the 112-pound title including wins over Shuichi Hozumi (W 15) and Dodie Boy Penalosa (W 15). Zapata lost his title to Fidel Bassa (L 15) in 1987 and drew in a rematch six months later. His final fight was a 1993 WBC super flyweight title bout with Sung-Kil Moon, losing via 1st round KO.
During his career, Zapata competed in 24 world title bouts, compiling an impressive 18-5-1 championship record. Known for his tremendous boxing skills and exceptionally fast hand and foot speed, Zapata's professional record is 43-10-1 (15 KOs).
Born: August 19, 1958
Bouts: 54
Won: 43
Lost: 10
Draw: 1
KOs: 15
Induction: 2016
Hilario Zapata
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