WBC TALKS, ROUND 38: Daniel Zaragoza and Lupe Pintor

We could not close the week of our WBC TALKS in a better way than with two former world champions and a current world champion, who delighted us with great anecdotes about their careers and those “fierce” encounters they had. They are…Daniel Zaragoza, Lupe Pintor and Miguel Berchelt.

Talking about his beginnings in boxing, Lupe Pintor, who still lives in his childhood neighborhood, remembered that he played a lot, and sold marbles. However, despite being a relatively calm child, there was an adolescent who took advantage of many of the children in the neighborhood, including him, which led Pintor to want to learn to box just to be able to “give his due” to that young man.

However, before anything could transpire, things took an unexpected turn when the youth died. by that time Lupe was already fully involved in boxing training at the Jordán Gym where he fell in love with boxing and he devoted himself 100 percent to becoming the best.

The opportunity for a world championship came in 1979 against Carlos Zárate, a fight that he himself described as exciting, where Carlos thought he was facing a beginner, but he was wrong. “I ended up badly battered, with my eyebrows open, it was the only time I got out of a fight that bad, but I won and made 8 defenses of that title.”

Lupe vividly recalls a very sad episode that led him to even think about retirement. We refer to the death of Johnny Owen. At this point, the “Grillo de Cuajimalpa” said it’s very difficult to know that someone else’s life was left in your hands, but in the end, in this career, everyone fights fully aware of the risks they run. In the fight with Zarate, even when he was very hurt, he never thought about throwing in the towel, on the contrary, he was completely certain that he would continue if his body allowed it.

Daniel Zaragoza, grew up in boxing since his dad was a professional boxer. He that he had not initially been attracted to this sport, even when his brothers were already training. He wanted to be soccer player; however, at the age of 19 and due to his father’s insistence, Daniel put on his gloves for the first time and with Natural talent, only a year later, he was already participating in the Pan American Games and by 1980 competing in the Olympic Games.

Unfortunately, he recalls, that both at the Pan American Games in San Juan -1974- and at the Olympic Games in Moscow -1980, he was eliminated in the second round. But those troubles were compensated for with a prolific career as a professional, where he became a bantam world champion at age 28 and in his thirtieth fight; super bantamweight at 31 defeating the legendary Carlos Zárate and two-time super bantamweight champion at 38 defeating Héctor Acero. Daniel retired as a world champion with a 17-year career, which led him, as well as Lupe Pintor, to become members of the Canastota International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Miguel, who declared himself a great admirer of these two legends, made several points in the conversation, because he not only recognized the courage and integrity of these greats, but also how difficult it was to fight at that time, when there was no way to study the rival in a video like now.

Always willing to learn from the best, the current WBC super featherweight champion, Miguel Berchelt commented that during this time of confinement, he has dedicated much of his hours to watching the fights of our guests, as well as Rubén Olivares and Carlos Zárate. He asked them who their boxing idols were, when they were starting, and without thinking twice, Lupe Pintor stated that Rubén el “Púas” Olivares and Daniel replied Sugar Ray Leonard.

Past and present, talking about a common theme: the passion for boxing, great feats, how necessary it is to be a disciplined fighter, the idols that inspired them and thus came their highly informed choices of attributes.

Lupe Pintor:

Jab: Lupe Pintor

Footwork: Muhammad Ali

Chin: Julio César Chávez

Defense: Miguel Canto

Speed: Floyd Mayweather jr.

Power: Myke Tyson

Intelligence: Miguel Canto

Heart: Julio César Chávez

Favorite Fighter: Rubén Olivares / Julio César Chávez

Daniel Zaragoza:

Jab: Lupe Pintor

Footwork: Jose Napoles

Chin: Julio César Chávez

Defense: Juan Manuel Márquez

Speed: Sugar Ray Leonard

Power: George Foreman

Intelligence: Floyd Mayweather jr.

Heart: Juan Manuel Márquez

Favorite fighter: José Nápoles

Miguel Berchelt:

Jab: Lupe Pintor

Footwork: Sugar Ray Leonard

Chin: Julio César Chávez

Defense: Miguel Canto / Pernell Whitaker

Speed: Floyd Mayweather jr.

Power: Mike Tyson

Intelligence: Floyd Mayweather jr.

Heart: Juan Manuel Márquez

Favorite fighter: Erik Morales

If you missed this interesting talk, here is the link