Johnny Tapia

John Lee Anthony Tapia<ref>HBO Tapia documentary. 2013.</ref> (February 13, 1967 – May 27, 2012) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2011. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the unified IBF and WBO super flyweight titles between 1994 and 1998, the unified WBA and WBO bantamweight titles between 1998 and 2000, and the IBF featherweight title in 2002. His 1999 loss by decision to Paulie Ayala was named the Fight of the Year by The Ring magazine.

Tapia was posthumously inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2017.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Early life

Tapia was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico to Mexican American parents. His father had reportedly been murdered while his mother was pregnant with him. When he was eight years old, his mother, Virginia, was kidnapped, raped, repeatedly stabbed, and left dead by her assailant. Raised thereafter by his grandmother, Tapia turned to boxing at the age of nine.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Amateur career

Tapia had an outstanding amateur career, winning the 1983 New Mexico State Golden Gloves,<ref>Albuquerque Hosts National Golden Gloves Tournament, The Hobbs Flare, March 10, 1983, p. 10.</ref> the 1983 and 1985 National Golden Gloves tournaments at light flyweight and flyweight, respectively.

Professional career

Super flyweight

Early years

Tapia's professional boxing career began on March 25, 1988, when he fought Effren Chavez in Irvine, California. After four rounds of boxing the fight was called a draw. He won eight fights that year, five by knockout, of which four were in the first round. In 1989, he won seven more fights, including a first-round knockout of Abner Barajas and an eight-round decision against John Michael Johnson.

In 1990, he won seven bouts, including an eight-round decision over Jesus Chong, an eleventh-round technical knockout of Roland Gomez in Reno that gave him the USBA super flyweight title, and a twelve-round decision over Luigi Camputaro, to retain that title. Tapia was, by the end of the year, a known boxer, his name often appearing in magazine articles. However, his career came to a halt for the next three and a half years after being suspended from boxing for testing positive for cocaine.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

When he finally returned to the ring on March 27, 1994, he beat Jaime Olvera by a knockout in four rounds in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He won three more fights by knockout, and then he faced Oscar Aguilar on the Michael Carbajal–Josué Camacho undercard in Phoenix for the NABF super flyweight title, winning in three rounds. Five days later the Albuquerque Police claimed they found cocaine after the fight in a bag carried by Tapia. Tapia claimed what the police found was only a soap bar, and the charges were eventually dropped.

First world title

On October 12, 1994 at The Pit, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Tapia defeated Henry Martínez in eleven rounds to win the vacant WBO super flyweight title. He then knocked out former champion Rolando Bohol in the second round. In his first title defense, Tapia defeated Jose Rafael Sosa by decision.

He retained the title with a nine-round technical draw with Ricardo Vargas and a decision in twelve against his onetime nemesis in the amateur ranks, Arthur Johnson. After two more wins, he gave Willy Salazar a title shot, knocking him out in nine rounds. In 1996, he fought six more times, keeping his undefeated record and defending the title five additional times during that period, which included wins against Giovanni Andrade, Ivan Alvarez, future champion Hugo Rafael Soto, Sammy Stewart and Adonis Cruz. By then, a heated rivalry was cooking up between him and IBF champion Danny Romero. Their rivalry had begun many years earlier when Romero's father trained both boxers. Tapia's split with the Romero family had not been on good terms.

Tapia vs Romero unification

1997 saw Tapia fend off a challenge from Jorge Barrera in three rounds. After that, the fight with Romero was set for Las Vegas. The fight took place on July 18. Tapia won by a unanimous twelve-round decision, adding the IBF title to his WBO belt. In his next fight, he defeated Puerto Rico's Andy Agosto via decision to retain the titles. Tapia began 1998 by successfully defending his championships for the 11th time against former world champion Rodolfo Blanco of Colombia via decision, and then he vacated his world titles in order to move up in weight.

Bantamweight

On December 5, 1998, Tapia defeated WBA bantamweight champion Nana Konadu by decision to become a two-division world champion.

Tapia vs. Ayala

In 1999, Tapia suffered his first loss in his 48-bout career, losing a decision and the WBA title to Paulie Ayala in what The Ring Magazine called its "Fight of the Year." Later that year, Tapia tried to commit suicide with a drug overdose and required hospitalization. Back quickly after that, he was given a shot at the WBO title. He became a two time world bantamweight champion by beating Jorge Eliecer Julio by a decision at Albuquerque on January 8, 2000. After he defended his belt with a decision over Javier Torres, a rematch with Ayala to unify the belt was set up. Ayala won by unanimous decision in a fight that ring observers largely felt Tapia won; following the fight, Showtime commentators said that Tapia "put on a clinic" and "something's not right," nearly labeling the decision as rigged.

Featherweight

Tapia returned home to prepare for bouts in 2001, when he went up in weight and beat Famosito Gomez by a knockout in six, and former WBC featherweight champion Cesar Soto by knockout in three.

In 2002, Tapia traveled to London, where he knocked out Eduardo Enrique Alvarez in the first round; after the bout, he was interviewed by former rival Romero. Tapia's next bout, for the IBF featherweight title, was versus Manuel Medina. Tapia won a dubious decision, becoming a world title holder in three different divisions. He left the title vacant so he could face Lineal & The Ring champion Marco Antonio Barrera, who beat Tapia by unanimous decision.

Comeback

Tapia returned on the night of October 4, 2003, defeating Carlos Contreras by ten round unanimous decision at Albuquerque.

On April 15, 2005, he sustained an injury to his left eye, but was able to continue and win a repeat match-up with Frankie Archuleta. That win came by ten round split decision in Albuquerque.

At 38, Tapia faced little-known Sandro Marcos in Chicago. In the second round, Marcos connected with a left hook to the body. Tapia fell to the canvas, clutching his ribcage, as referee Genaro Rodriguez reached the count of 10.<ref>Boxing News by 15rounds.com</ref>

Later career and problems

On January 17, 2007, Tapia held a press conference stating that he would face Ilido Julio on February 23 in his home town of Albuquerque, New Mexico, then retire. The bout was being promoted as The Final Fury and Tapia promised he would win.<ref name="autogenerated1">Template:Cite web</ref> Tapia won the fight by majority decision, 98–92, 96–94, 95–95.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Tapia was found unconscious and not breathing in a hotel room early on the morning of March 12, 2007. Tapia was hospitalized in critical condition from an apparent cocaine overdose at Albuquerque Presbyterian Hospital.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The next day, on the morning of March 13, Tapia's brother-in-law and nephew were killed in an automobile accident on U.S. Highway 550 near Bloomfield, New Mexico, apparently en route to the hospital to visit Tapia. That same day, Tapia was upgraded from critical to serious condition.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Tapia was scheduled to make a comeback on May 2, 2008, in El Paso, Texas, but pulled out due to contractual disputes with promoter Ron Weathers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On February 11, 2009, Tapia was taken into custody in Albuquerque for a violation of parole related to cocaine use.

Tapia beat Jorge Alberto Reyes by a knockout in the 4th round on March 6, 2010, at the Ohkay Casino, San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico, United States, in front of a sold-out crowd.

Personal life

Tapia was married to Teresa Tapia in 1994 and had three boys. The family lived in Albuquerque, NM.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

He had many tattoos, which were prominent when he was fighting. One of them said Mi Vida Loca ("My Crazy Life"), the nickname he adopted. He wrote an autobiography by that title.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was a born-again Christian.

In 2010, at age 43, Tapia learned that apparently, his father was alive. Jerry Padilla, who Tapia already knew, was supposedly intrigued by the similarities in their mannerisms, and the two decided to submit to a DNA test, which proved they were father and son.<ref name=NotDad>Template:Cite news</ref> After Tapia died in 2012, his widow briefly married his alleged half-brother, Jeffrey Padilla, in 2014.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, she felt it wrong that the senior Padilla had “jokingly” mingled his DNA swabs with Tapia in 2010, getting a court order to compare a new and controlled swab with some of Tapia's tissue, proving in 2017 that they were not father and son.<ref name=NotDad/>

Death

On May 27, 2012, Tapia was found dead in his Albuquerque home. He was 45 years old.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Tapia died of heart failure.

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
66	Template:Yes2Win	59–5–2	Mauricio Pastrana	UD	8	Jun 4, 2011	Template:Small
65	Template:Yes2Win	58–5–2	Jose Alonso	TKO	4 (10), Template:Small	Sep 24, 2010	Template:Small	Template:Small
64	Template:Yes2Win	57–5–2	Jorge Alberto Reyes	TKO	4, Template:Small	Mar 6, 2010	Template:Small
63	Template:Yes2Win	56–5–2	Evaristo Primero	MD	10	Feb 23, 2007	Template:Small
62	Template:No2Loss	55–5–2	Sandro Marcos	KO	2 (10), Template:Small	Sep 16, 2005	Template:Small
61	Template:Yes2Win	55–4–2	Frankie Archuleta	UD	10	Apr 15, 2005	Template:Small
60	Template:Yes2Win	54–4–2	Nicky Bentz	SD	10	Jan 22, 2005	Template:Small
59	Template:No2Loss	53–4–2	Frankie Archuleta	SD	10	Mar 5, 2004	Template:Small
58	Template:Yes2Win	53–3–2	Carlos Contreras	UD	10	Sep 26, 2003	Template:Small
57	Template:No2Loss	52–3–2	Marco Antonio Barrera	UD	12	Nov 2, 2002	Template:Small	Template:Small
56	Template:Yes2Win	52–2–2	Manuel Medina	MD	12	Apr 27, 2002	Template:Small	Template:Small
55	Template:Yes2Win	51–2–2	Eduardo Enrique Alvarez	TKO	1 (10), Template:Small	Jan 19, 2002	Template:Small
54	Template:Yes2Win	50–2–2	César Soto	KO	3 (10), Template:Small	Jun 30, 2001	Template:Small
53	Template:Yes2Win	49–2–2	Cuauhtemoc Gomez	RTD	6 (10), Template:Small	Mar 17, 2001	Template:Small
52	Template:No2Loss	48–2–2	Paulie Ayala	UD	12	Oct 7, 2000	Template:Small
51	Template:Yes2Win	48–1–2	Pedro Javier Torres	UD	12	May 6, 2000	Template:Small	Template:Small
50	Template:Yes2Win	47–1–2	Jorge Eliécer Julio	UD	12	Jan 8, 2000	Template:Small	Template:Small
49	Template:No2Loss	46–1–2	Paulie Ayala	UD	12	Jun 26, 1999	Template:Small	Template:Small
48	Template:Yes2Win	46–0–2	Alberto Martinez	KO	1 (10), Template:Small	Apr 24, 1999	Template:Small
47	Template:Yes2Win	45–0–2	Nana Konadu	MD	12	Dec 5, 1998	Template:Small	Template:Small
46	Template:Yes2Win	44–0–2	Carlos Francis Hernandez	UD	10	Aug 29, 1998	Template:Small
45	Template:Yes2Win	43–0–2	Rodolfo Blanco	UD	12	Feb 13, 1998	Template:Small	Template:Small
44	Template:Yes2Win	42–0–2	Andy Agosto	UD	12	Dec 13, 1997	Template:Small	Template:Small
43	Template:Yes2Win	41–0–2	Danny Romero	UD	12	Jul 18, 1997	Template:Small	Template:Small
42	Template:Yes2Win	40–0–2	Jorge Barrera	TKO	3 (12), Template:Small	Mar 8, 1997	Template:Small	Template:Small
41	Template:Yes2Win	39–0–2	Adonis Cruz	UD	12	Nov 30, 1996	Template:Small	Template:Small
40	Template:Yes2Win	38–0–2	Sammy Stewart	TKO	7 (12), Template:Small	Oct 11, 1996	Template:Small	Template:Small
39	Template:Yes2Win	37–0–2	Hugo Rafael Soto	UD	12	Aug 17, 1996	Template:Small	Template:Small
38	Template:Yes2Win	36–0–2	Ivan Alvarez	TKO	8 (12), Template:Small	Jun 7, 1996	Template:Small	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	35–0–2	Ramon Gonzales	TKO	2 (10), Template:Small	Apr 30, 1996	Template:Small
36	Template:Yes2Win	34–0–2	Giovanni Andrade	TKO	2 (12), Template:Small	Feb 3, 1996	Template:Small	Template:Small
35	Template:Yes2Win	33–0–2	Willy Salazar	Template:Abbr	9 (12), Template:Small	Dec 1, 1995	Template:Small	Template:Small
34	Template:Yes2Win	32–0–2	Raul Rios	UD	10	Oct 19, 1995	Template:Small
33	Template:Yes2Win	31–0–2	Jesse Miranda	UD	10	Sep 9, 1995	Template:Small
32	Template:Yes2Win	30–0–2	Arthur Johnson	Template:Abbr	12	Jul 2, 1995	Template:Small	Template:Small
31	Template:DrawDraw	29–0–2	Ricardo Vargas	Template:Abbr	8 (12)	May 6, 1995	Template:Small	Template:Small
30	Template:Yes2Win	29–0–1	Jose Rafael Sosa	UD	12	Feb 10, 1995	Template:Small	Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	28–0–1	Rolando Bohol	KO	2 (10), Template:Small	Dec 8, 1994	Template:Small
28	Template:Yes2Win	27–0–1	Henry Martínez	TKO	11 (12), Template:Small	Oct 12, 1994	Template:Small	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	26–0–1	Oscar Aguilar	TKO	3 (12)	Jul 15, 1994	Template:Small	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	25–0–1	Rafael Granillo	TKO	9 (10), Template:Small	Jun 24, 1994	Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	24–0–1	Antonio Ruiz	UD	10	May 5, 1994	Template:Small
24	Template:Yes2Win	23–0–1	Arturo Estrada	TKO	2 (10), Template:Small	Apr 15, 1994	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	22–0–1	Jaime Olvera	KO	4 (8), Template:Small	Mar 27, 1994	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	21–0–1	Santiago Caballero	Template:Abbr	7 (12)	Oct 26, 1990	Template:Small	Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	20–0–1	Luigi Camputaro	UD	12	Sep 20, 1990	Template:Small	Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	19–0–1	Jose Montiel	TKO	9 (12), Template:Small	Jul 27, 1990	Template:Small	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	18–0–1	Pablo Valenzuela	KO	5 (12), Template:Small	Jun 21, 1990	Template:Small	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	17–0–1	Roland Gomez	TKO	11 (12), Template:Small	May 10, 1990	Template:Small	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	16–0–1	Abraham Garcia	TKO	1 (10)	Mar 16, 1990	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	15–0–1	Jesus Chong	UD	8	Feb 16, 1990	Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	14–0–1	Martin Perez Ramirez	UD	8	Dec 1, 1989	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	13–0–1	Prudencio De Jesus	TKO	1	Nov 17, 1989	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	12–0–1	John Michael Johnson	UD	8	Oct 17, 1989	Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	11–0–1	Hugo Partida	KO	2 (10)	Aug 19, 1989	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	10–0–1	Josefino Suarez	UD	8	Jun 17, 1989	Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	9–0–1	Fred Hernandez	UD	8	Mar 23, 1989	Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	8–0–1	Abner Barajas	TKO	2 (8)	Feb 17, 1989	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	7–0–1	Simon Contreras	UD	8	Dec 1, 1988	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	6–0–1	Jorge Salinas	TKO	1, Template:Small	Oct 14, 1988	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	5–0–1	Manuel Martinez	KO	1 (6)	Sep 29, 1988	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	4–0–1	Miguel Martinez	KO	1 (6), Template:Small	Sep 16, 1988	Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	3–0–1	Martin Perez Ramirez	Template:Abbr	1 (6), Template:Small	Jun 30, 1988	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	2–0–1	Norberto Ayala	Template:Abbr	4 (4)	May 16, 1988	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	1–0–1	James Dean	Template:Abbr	6	Apr 11, 1988	Template:Small
1	Template:DrawDraw	0–0–1	Efren Chavez	Template:Abbr	4	Mar 28, 1988	Template:Small

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

• IBF super flyweight champion (115 lbs)
• WBO super flyweight champion (115 lbs)
• WBA bantamweight champion (118 lbs)
• WBO bantamweight champion (118 lbs)
• IBF featherweight champion (126 lbs)

Regional/International titles

• USBA super flyweight champion (115 lbs)
• NABF super flyweight champion (115 lbs)
• IBC Americas lightweight champion (135 lbs)

See also

• List of boxing triple champions
• List of WBA world champions
• List of IBF world champions
• List of WBO world champions

External links

• Template:Boxrec
• Johnny Tapia Interview at convictedartist.com