Jeanette Zapata losing her life at 18 is tragedy enough. Still, when a matchmaker admits they would never have chosen her for a fight if they’d seen footage, that tragedy worsens considerably.
That’s the case of the teenage Mexican fighter following an admission by Groupe Yvon Michel (GYM) bout arranger Vincent Morin.
A hindsight statement is welcome in the cold light of day. However, a more thorough investigation alongside access to footage of every boxer is undoubtedly essential.
Boxing also has to get tougher on younger fighters who lose via knockout in the months before they get matched again.
Morin was unable to see how Zapata got brutally pummeled in her outing against Cynthia Lozano in May. Had he done so, things could have been different.
“We did not have access to this video before starting negotiations with Zapata,” Morin told the Montreal Journal. “Of course, I would have liked to see her.
“We knew she had lost by knockout, but we didn’t know the circumstances in which she had cashed it.
“If I had seen her before, Marie-Pier [Houle] would not have boxed last Saturday.
“The only video I had found on the web was that of the duel between Zapata and Alma Ibarra. For the May fight, all I had found was an article in Spanish.
“It was about a fierce fight where the two boxers had exchanged more than 300 punches. There was talk of a fall to the floor with a blow to the body.
“What I saw in the video was a fall from exhaustion. As far as I know, she did not go to the hospital. She came home after the fight. ”
The boxing world is shocked at the sickening passing of a young woman with her whole life ahead. She was married, in love, and ready to live for many years.
The sport has to come to terms with what happened amidst calls to ban boxing worldwide.
At the very least, a tightening of research has to be unified between all governing bodies and commissions to improve fighter safety.
JEANETTE ZAPATA CAREER
Zapata had won two and lost two during the first part of her career before a lengthy absence from the back end of 2018.
Returning from a two-and-a-half-year layoff to be brutally stopped could have been the red flag needed for some to question Zapata’s involvement in the sport moving forward.
But putting her in with a dangerous 31-year-old three months later was the last thing she needed to happen.
