No longer a top boxer, Tapia returned to the ring several more times before his final fightin June, 2011, when, overweight and sporting the weathered face of someone ten years older, he won by knockout in Albuquerque. Like so many athletes once their careers have ended, Tapia returned to the only real vocation hed known and opened a boxing gym in Albequerque. A wedding photo showed Teresa Tapia and Jeffrey Padilla joined by Johnny's sons, Johnny Tapia Jr. and Lorenzo Tapia. I dont want it and theres the difference. If he lost, they beat him, he said. 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. If you change your mind, go to Notifications in the menu to enable browser notifications. Tapia won his first 22 professional fights, then was suspended from boxing after failing three drug tests. He passed away on May 27, 2012 at the age of 45. He sometimes stuck out his tongue to taunt opponents. In 1989, he won seven more fights, including a first-round knockout of Abner Barajas and an eight-round decision against John Michael Johnson. KOB-TV reports representatives for Teresa Tapia confirmed Sunday that she married Johnny Tapia's half-brother, Jeffrey Padilla. His wife somehow stayed. appreciated. At the age of eight, he looked out of his bedroom window and saw his mother chained up in the back of a pick up truck, being driven away by her lover. Tapia's body is found at his home on Sunday night. Thats why me and Paulie got fight of the year because all we did was bang.. Ive got a good wife. She has mixed emotions about him quitting the sport; it has been a rare constant in their perilous journey together. I dont have a temptation because if I want it [drugs] I can get it, wherever I am. He passed away on May 27, 2012 at the age of 45. He worked as producer of KOTV from 2006 until he joined Boxing News in 2010. Cops say the death does not appear suspicious, but an official cause has not been determined. V roce 1995 se stal dritelem titulu super flyweight WBO Johnny Tapia, ale ztratil vtinov rozhodnut. He won a unanimous decision. Johnny Tapia. My wife could have killed me, she could have turned off the machine, Johnny says, his voice quivering under the weight of shame. The widow of former world champion Johnny Tapia has remarried. He wrote an autobiography by that title. After two more wins, he gave Willy Salazar a title shot, knocking him out in nine rounds. It was a cruel blow for wife Terese to take. Blanco lost one point in round nine for low blows. He has been the editor of Boxing News since 2015. In 2007 Johnny overdosed again and was taken to hospital where he lay in a coma. A metropolis where hundreds of young warriors train and battle each day in its many gyms, it is where Archie Moore, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran and Bernard Hopkins all found greatness. Albuquerque, he says, Im still your champion.. Tapia was deducted 1 point in round 2 for a deliberate head butt. It is said he was declared clinically dead five times in his life, a life that was ceaselessly, stubbornly, incurably difficult. John Lee Tapia: sex: male alias: Mi Vida Loca: nationality: USA stance: orthodox: height: 5 6 / 168cm: reach: 65 / 165cm: residence: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA: birth place: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA In May 2011 Matt Christie stumbled across Johnny Tapia in Las Vegas and discovered a twisted and tragic love story that was destined for trouble from the start, Chris Eubank Jnr vs. Conor Benn is officially OFF, Chris Eubank Jr v Conor Benn: The story of a grim day for British boxing, Chris Eubank Jnr says there was no phone call with Conor Benn, but does expect their fight to still go ahead. Four times I was declared dead. Johnny Tapia was born in Albuquerque. Bout made at a catchweight of 124 pounds. Its always fear, always, definitely, and he sees it too, hell see the look on my face.. Name: Juan Tapia Pro Boxing Record: 12-4-0 (Win-Loss-Draw) Nickname: Johnny Blaze Current Streak: N/A Age: 29 | Date of Birth: 1993.03.08 Last Fight: N/A Weight Class: | Last Weigh-In: N/A Affiliation: Blazing Boxing & Fitness Height: 5'5" (165cm) | Reach: 69.0" (175cm) Career Disclosed Earnings: $0 USD Born: Brownsville, Texas He leaps up, like a puppy dog, and gallops towards the fighters. Tapia had an outstanding amateur career, winning the 1983 New Mexico State Golden Gloves,[5] the 1983 and 1985 National Golden Gloves tournaments at light flyweight and flyweight, respectively. Johnny was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, on February 13, 1967. The last fight of Johnny Tapia took place on June 4, 2011 against Mauricio Pastrana. Tapia eventually took these skills to the ring, where he showed himself equally proficient at regulated combat. He suffers from bipolar disorder and it makes it very difficult the highs are very high and the lows are very low. Johnny Tapia lands a punch against Antonio Ruiz during the fight at the Olympic Auditorium, in May 5,1994 in Los Angeles, California. 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. 1997 saw Tapia fend off a challenge from Jorge Barrera in three rounds. At 38, Tapia faced little-known Sandro Marcos in Chicago. Thats the love of my life. Family members say Albuquerque police were summoned to Tapia's house at 7:45 PM Sunday by a family. Johnny Tapia, a prizefighter who won world titles in three weight classes in a chaotic life that included jail, struggles with mental illness, suicide attempts and five times being declared. Though successful between the ropes, Tapia hadnt divested himself of his drug habit. He quit the ring several times, but could not seem to give it up. KOB-TV reports representatives for Teresa Tapia confirmed Sunday that she married Johnny Tapia's half-brother, Jeffrey Padilla. All my goal is to see Johnny reach this ripe old age, she said. I tried to find him, right before the Paulie Ayala fight. His 1999 loss by decision to Paulie Ayala was named the Fight of the Year by The Ring magazine. The lines on his face that greedily sink into his ageing skin provide clues of his misery. All fights list 2023, champion titles, age, height, reach and weight, KO ratio of the boxer Johnny Mi Vida Loca Tapia. I hurt, Im old, Im done, he says, almost poetically. He was a 21-year-old flyweight prospect when he covered one nostril and used the other to snort back his first heavenly line of cocaine through a tightly rolled dollar bill. When he trains she follows him, at his request, to the gym in Albuquerque. He knows it will be the end of his marriage if that happens. Tapia himself never thought he would live past the age of 40. An insightful and revealing documentary, Tapia shows both his darkness and his better nature as it presents a life thats too complex to judge. Boxing, he tells the camera, saved my life., Your email address will not be published. If I could take that all back I would.. Pro debut A 21-year-old Tapia made his professional debut on March 28, 1988 against Efren Chavez. During this time, Tapias wife, Teresa, had authorities re-open his mothers murder case. Johnny Tapia, left, in 2007 during one of his comebacks. Their marriage lurched wildly up and down, as Mrs. Tapia struggled to provide stability. 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. For Tapia, it was cocaine. The next day, he was in a hospital with an overdose. johnny tapia boxrec - At johnny tapia boxrec we like to say " There is no fun like fun in the waterOur mission is to turn your little ones into professional-level swimmers. The investigation had been reopened at the behest of Tapias wife. If he says Im just going to run down the store to get a Dr Pepper, you cant help but think you should go with him, and wonder what is going to happen. Johnny Tapia was born on the 13th of February, 1967. Johnny was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, on February 13, 1967. But despite his early success, his life was anything but ordered, as he escaped the streets only when physically in the ring. Tapia ruled down in round eleven. 2023 Cable News Network. John Lee Anthony Tapia (February 13, 1967 May 27, 2012) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2011. Yet again, Tapia was facing death. After three and a half years away from the ring, he returned to win five fights before defeating Henry Martinez to win the world super flyweight title (115-pound limit). Johnny sees things well, Freddie Roach, Tapias trainer and a member of the World Boxing Hall of Fame, said in an interview with Sports Illustrated in 2002. Talking to Tapia, the little boy lost who craves his dear mother, its impossible not to root for him. The fight took place on July 18. Raised to fight to the death.. All Rights Reserved. That is to say, he possessed the rare medley of talent, charisma, and recklessness that leaped through the screen to seize the viewer's heart. The striking advertisement for sobriety in this land of the wasted is Johnny Tapia, perhaps the most infamous substance-abusing boxer of all time. Get in on the latest boxing conversations in our Forum and comment on articles. Or stabbing anybody, or fighting anybody, or killing anybody? He had to be revived after his heart stopped beating, the first of at least five times this happened. Tapia was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His 1999 loss by decision to Paulie Ayala was named the Fight of the Year by The Ring magazine. Tapia returned on the night of October 4, 2003, defeating Carlos Contreras by ten round unanimous decision at Albuquerque. Though boxing would provide no more thrills, there was a surprising development in his life. Highlights of Johnny Tapia's best combinations \u0026 knockouts.Johnny Tapia - Was an American professional boxer and a five-time world champion at super flyweight, bantamweight and featherweight. This is perhaps the documentarys most poignant moment. Tapia won by unanimous decision (UD). I felt like my brothers life had been sacrificed for him because, again, everyone was always around Johnny, always there for him and his addiction never ended. There is a real openness that invites you to step inside his world and be his friend. Press conferences about the Super Six have just taken place and Tapias eyes twitch as Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch amble past. When at his best, Johnny Tapia met the world with the finest smile. Tapia's heart simply stopped beating and, unlike his previous brushes with death, this one was for real. Teresa loves it when her husband chuckles like that; it means he is in a good place. In his first title defense, Tapia defeated Jose Rafael Sosa by decision. That was a very, very emotional time and the hardest time for me, and for him, because he knew he had gone too far. He took the wedding cash and dumped her in a cheap hotel. Family members say Albuquerque police were summoned to Tapia's house at 7:45 PM Sunday by a family member who discovered the body. Bohol down twice in Round 2. His ring return has kept Tapia out of trouble since 2009 boxing was a condition of his release from prison but now he wants to retire. Both sport dozens of tattoos, having used their skin as parchment on which to inscribe their own dramas. But happiness is a daily grind for Tapia. Back then I needed it, it took me away from everything. Tapia doesnt dwell on their relationship for long, nor does it detail how strongly it developed prior to Johnnys death, but it must have been astonishing, and perhaps astonishingly sad, for Johnny to realize, after four decades, that he was not alone in the world, and that the man responsible for his creation had been close by all along. Johnny Tapia was an American boxer, who competed in the super flyweight division. TM & 2023 BoxingScene.All Rights Reserved. [11], 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.[12]. In boxing, Tapias aggression was rewarded; on the street it brought him to the edge of death. I was so focused on killing him that I didnt train or anything. Undefeated and only 23-years-old, the drug was his undoing when he tested positive in June of 1990 and then did so again several more times in the ensuing months. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Police have made an arrest in the shooting of Johnny Tapia, the son of the boxing legend of the same name. I just want to say Good night mama. Tapia spokesman Julian Jiron says the marriage came "out of love, respect, and the preservation of the family and Johnny's legacy." Tapia won by a unanimous twelve-round decision, adding the IBF title to his WBO belt. Tapia was admitted to the hospital in 2007 in critical condition from a cocaine OD. For more information, see our Cookie Policy. 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. In 2017 he won the Sam Kellerman Media Award in New York and The Reg Gutteridge Annual Award in London two years later. *Links to streaming, pay-per-view or ticketing platforms provided on this page, if any, are affiliate links. It was my mistress and it would take me away nicely.. He appeared to revel in hostility and combat, as if his self-worth was proportional to his ability to give and take pain. 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. Tapia died at his Albuquerque home in 2012. Benitez first won the 140-pound WBA light-welterweight title from Antonio Cervantes on March 6, 1976, at the age of 17. > The family lived in Albuquerque, NM.[13]. "I was offered a fight against Johnny Tapia (which took place on June 26 of that year) and I was super-excited considering I was called over six months after the loss," Ayala told BoxingScene. John Lee Anthony Tapia[2] (February 13, 1967 May 27, 2012) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2011. [15] After Tapia died in 2012, his widow briefly married his alleged half-brother, Jeffrey Padilla, in 2014. At the end of the film he is at a local radio station, accompanying one of his young fighters to promote an upcoming card. After four rounds of boxing the fight was called a draw. His story is well documented but remains as horrifically shocking today as it ever was. designation and sentence computation center grand prairie texas, .. Tapia was deducted 1 point in round nine for low blows who. Twitch as Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch amble past saw Tapia fend off a challenge Jorge! The Year because all we did was bang.. Ive got a place... 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