In October 1980, Zaragoza won his pro debut against Ernesto Gutierrez.
WBC Bantamweight Championship In 1985 he captured the vacant
WBC Bantamweight title with a disqualification victory over
Freddie Jackson in
Aruba. He lost his title in his first defense to
Miguel "Happy" Lora. In his next bout in 1986, he suffered a non-title loss to
IBF Bantamweight Champion and future
International Boxing Hall of Fame member
Jeff Fenech in
Australia.
WBC Super Bantamweight Championship Zaragoza moved up in weight in his next bout and scored 7 consecutive wins before capturing the vacant
WBC Super Bantamweight title with a knockout win over future hall of fame member
Carlos Zarate in 1988 in the tenth round of a fight scheduled for twelve rounds. He successfully retained the title five times, including a hard-fought draw in
South Korea against IBF Super Bantamweight champion
Lee Seung-hoon, a knockout victory against future champion Valerio Nati in Italy, a decision victory over
Paul Banke (16–3–0) in the first fight of their trilogy, a knockout victory against Frankie Duarte (47–7–1), and a decision victory over former champion Chan-Yong Park in South Korea. In 1990, he lost the belt to
Paul Banke whom he had defeated just three fights prior. Banke would go on to lose the title by knockout against
Pedro Ruben Decima, who in turn was knocked out by
Kiyoshi Hatanaka. In 1991, Zaragoza regained the belt with a split decision win over Hatanaka in Japan. He defended the belt against Chun Huh (25–2–0) of
South Korea and avenged his loss to Paul Banke. In 1992, he lost his title to Thierry Jacob by decision in France. In his next two fights he battled newly crowned WBC super bantamweight titleholder
Tracy Harris Patterson, who had recently defeated Jacob. He fought to a draw with Patterson in the first bout and lost by technical knockout in the second bout when the fight was stopped due to a cut despite the objections of Zaragoza.
Oldest Super Bantamweight Champion In 1995 he would yet again get another crack at the title against
WBC Super Bantamweight champion Hector Acero Sánchez, who had defeated Tracy Harris Patterson to win the title. The bout was controversially ruled a draw with most observers believing Zaragoza should have been declared the winner. He fought a rematch with Sánchez later in the year and won the belt via split decision. At 36 years 11 months, he became the oldest super bantamweight champion in history. This began a late-career surge for Zaragoza who was able to defend the title four times, including two wins against former and future champion
Joichiro Tatsuyoshi in Japan, a tko win over Tsuyoshi Harada (20–1–0) also in Japan, and an upset win against undefeated bantamweight champion
Wayne McCullough who had recently moved up in weight. On Sep 6, 1997, he lost his title to then-undefeated 21-year-old
Erik Morales, who knocked out Zaragoza in the 11th round. Zaragoza retired after the bout at the age of 39 with a record of 55–8–3. ==Retirement==