He held the WBO Super Flyweight Championship from October 12, 1994 to December 5, 1998. Then theres other times when I look at him and I think I probably wont have this man in my life for much longer because if youve lost your will to live then what do you have?. Highlights of Johnny Tapia's best combinations & knockouts.Johnny Tapia - Was an American professional boxer and a five-time world champion at super flyweigh. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Police have made an arrest in the shooting of Johnny Tapia, the son of the boxing legend of the same name. Raised to fight to the death.. Boxer Johnny Tapia was found dead Sunday in New Mexico, this according to local police. Tapia was married to Teresa Tapia in 1994 and had three boys. After a standout, Golden Gloves-winning amateur career, Tapia turned pro. Johnny Tapia, left, in 2007 during one of his comebacks. There is a poignant moment toward the end of the film in which father and son sit together. If there was any time I didnt want to be with him it was in that year, Teresa softly imparts. In a performance that summoned all of his skill, showmanship and gall, Tapia outfought and outlasted Romero and won a unanimous decision. Miguel, an amateur boxing champion, taught him pugilistic skills. Never again did he fight for a world title. Back quickly after that, he was given a shot at the WBO title. Johnny Tapia. He left the title vacant so he could face Lineal & The Ring champion Marco Antonio Barrera, who beat Tapia by unanimous decision. ( 16 1967 ) . Still undefeated after 18 more bouts, he beat Nana Konadu to win the bantamweight title (118 pounds) and become a two-division world champion. In his first title defense, Tapia defeated Jose Rafael Sosa by decision. Champinon.info 2018-2023. Everybody has their faults, I have them, and I could move on and find somebody else, and you know, they might not have an addiction but how do I know they wont be a womaniser, they wont be an abuser? Johnnys cocaine habit has caused his heart to stop beating on five separate occasions, he has been in three comas, and he has been in and out of prison. He drew in his first bout but his career soon exploded, and Johnny wouldnt lose until his forty-ninth prizefight. Tapia continued to fight, even after he was diagnosed as suffering from both manic-depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, but boxing hadceased to be a reliable refuge. Realizing his habits, she at first resisted. There is a real openness that invites you to step inside his world and be his friend. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. **This site uses cookies and other technologies, so we can remember you and understand how you and other visitors use our site. Thats when I met him, she said. Johnny was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, on February 13, 1967. Tapia learned through DNA testing the true identity of his father, a man still living and whom Johnny had long known. Tapia is a 5-time world champ. Johnnylost again and this would be the final time he hovered close to boxings zenith. But without prizefighting, life for an impulsive, troubled, and angry young man on the New Mexican streets might have ended much sooner. In his first defeat, Tapia lost the bantamweight crown to Paulie Avala in June 1999 in what The Ring magazine called the fight of the year. He narrowly defeated Manuel Medina in 2002 to win the featherweight (126 pounds) title. 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. With no father to watch over him, Tapia lived with his grandparents. An insightful and revealing documentary, Tapia shows both his darkness and his better nature as it presents a life thats too complex to judge. Bohol down twice in Round 2. Raised thereafter by his grandmother, Tapia turned to boxing at the age of nine.[4]. Tapia stirred from the coma, sobbing, with tubes attached to his tattooed body. He has so much knowledge and hes training fighters and hes doing some really awesome work with them. Thats the love of my life. HOW TALL IS JOHNNY TAPIA? Not from a drug overdose, but from heart failure. Teresa suddenly felt fierce hatred towards husband but, even as his constant drug possession resulted in him being sent to prison, she couldnt bring herself to untie the knot. Tapia ruled down in round eleven. John Lee Anthony Tapia[2] (February 13, 1967 May 27, 2012) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2011. An explosive combination puncher who backed up his suicidal tendencies with athleticism, he repeatedly waged all-out war in the ring and punctuated each miraculous victory with his trademark back-flip. Ive got a good wife. Tapia was deducted 1 point in round 2 for a deliberate head butt. To make money he sometimes participated in underground fights at a local bar, where apparently the only prohibited weapon was a gun. This is the documentarys most triumphant moment, and it was probably the apex of Johnny Tapias career. She was subsequently stabbed 22 times with a screwdriver, and left for dead. Known in years past as "Sin City" and "Babylon on the St. Lawrence", it saw more than its share of ring legends over the decades. Tapia won his first 22 professional fights, then was suspended from boxing after failing three drug tests. 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. According to his wife, no drugs were found in his system. Family members say Albuquerque police were summoned to Tapia's house at 7:45 PM Sunday by a family member who discovered the body. She opened the bathroom door and found Tapia with a needle in his arm. Relatives raised him and he followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, who had himself been a boxer. Johnny Tapia died, for the final time, of heart failure at 45, an age much too young for a final exit. 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. In boxing, Tapias aggression was rewarded; on the street it brought him to the edge of death. Today, as the giddy Vegas gamblers follow the hypnotic neon lights in search of making their fortune, Teresa is still hoping her marriage will hit the jackpot. 1967213 () . Teresa Tapia looks at Johnny, her husband of 18 years and the father of her three children, and smiles gently. Bohol down twice in Round 2. TM & 2023 BoxingScene.All Rights Reserved. Tapia had recently wed Teresa Chavez, who would exercise a calming and supportive influence in his life, and wins came quickly for the newly married man. It is a city of fights and fighters, of hockey and heroes, of broken dreams and immortal glory, a city unlike any other. His 1999 loss by decision to Paulie Ayala was named the Fight of the Year by The Ring magazine.Tapia was inducted during 2017, posthumously, to the International Boxing Hall of Fame.Tapia was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico to Mexican American parents. At the end of the film he is at a local radio station, accompanying one of his young fighters to promote an upcoming card. His emotional transparency popularized him but he was doomed by his lack of control. The first time was a mistake but the second time was a habit, he confesses. KOB-TV reports representatives for Teresa Tapia confirmed Sunday that she married Johnny Tapia's half-brother, Jeffrey Padilla. After two more wins, he gave Willy Salazar a title shot, knocking him out in nine rounds. He reached 45 before his. Anyone can read what you share. In his autobiography, Mi Vida Loca: The Crazy Life of Johnny Tapia, the fighter says that his father was murdered before he was born and that he was eight when he saw his mother murdered. At 38, Tapia faced little-known Sandro Marcos in Chicago. Birth place: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. A 21-year-old Tapia made his professional debut on March 28, 1988 against Efren Chavez. Scores: 98-92, 96-94, 99-93. Johnny clearly still adores boxing. Teresa loves it when her husband chuckles like that; it means he is in a good place. A Warner Bros. The fight took place on July 18. He is easily distracted as we all sit together deep inside the mysterious green labyrinth that is the MGM Grand. Your email address will not be published. He took the wedding cash and dumped her in a cheap hotel. Tapia was, by the end of the year, a known boxer, his name often appearing in magazine articles. He would have been 50 years old today. In his next fight, he defeated Puerto Rico's Andy Agosto via decision. 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. Hes like a walking contradiction, Teresa tells me while Johnny is out of earshot. Or stabbing anybody, or fighting anybody, or killing anybody? His laughter is curly and instantly infectious. He worked as producer of KOTV from 2006 until he joined Boxing News in 2010. I dont want it and theres the difference. He has been the editor of Boxing News since 2015. The day after he was admitted, his brother-in-law and nephew were killed in a car accident on their way to visit him. Tapia himself never thought he would live past the age of 40. Erik Morales: First Mexican to Win 4 in 4, Top 12 Reasons Why Muhammad Ali Is Forever The Greatest, Top 12 All-Time Greatest Heavyweight Punchers. Their marriage lurched wildly up and down, as Mrs. Tapia struggled to provide stability. Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. It is when she cant see him that she worries. Cops say the death does not appear suspicious, but an official cause has not been determined. 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). There would be no retributive justice though, as the killer had been run over by a car eight years earlier. In 1989, he won seven more fights, including a first-round knockout of Abner Barajas and an eight-round decision against John Michael Johnson. His father had reportedly been murdered while his mother was pregnant with him. If I didnt have her Id be dead in a heartbeat.. Teresa nearly walked away from her man in 2007. Using DNA evidence, investigators solved the crime, pinning it on the last man to have been seen with her. He won three more fights by knockout, and then he faced Oscar Aguilar on the Michael CarbajalJosu Camacho undercard in Phoenix for the NABF super flyweight title, winning in three rounds. 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