Hilario Zapata is a former Panamanian professional boxer who was born on August 19, 1958 in Panama City. He started playing professional boxing in 1977 when he was 19 years old. He had a successful career in boxing, which lasted for more than 30 year.
In 1977, he defeated Victory Lopez from Libertad, Uruguay by a knockout in round 2. A year after that, in 1978, he faced Juan Guzman, a fellow Panamanian, and defeated him by a decision after 10 rounds.
His first overseas match was in South Korea on his 20th birthday, August 19, 1978, against Yong-Hwang Kim, and won by a decision in round 10. He then faced Alfonso Lopez who defeated him by a decision in round 12. This was his first defeat since he turned pro.
In 1979, he competed and won in all 4 bouts. He faced Ramon Perez in Puerto Rico, then the two time Flyweight champion Freddie Castillo. By the end of 1979, he was declared as the World’s No. 1 Junior Flyweight challenger by WBC.
He finally became the World’s No. 1 Junior Flyweight champion in 1980 after beating Shigeo Nakajima in Japan. In that same year, he defended his title 5 times. In 1981, he defended in title in 4 matches. His first defeat was in 1982 against Amado Panterita Urusa. But in that same year, he regained his title by defeating Tadashi Tomori in Japan.
Zapata continued to participate in boxing bouts from 1983 to 1993. He lost some but won most of the matches within the 10 year period. At the end of 1993, he was no longer the world champion due to his defeat against Sunkil Moon in the Junior Bantamweight match.
