Johnny Tapia(1967-2012)
- Actor
Tapia won belts at featherweight, junior and world bantamweight. He
held a record of 59 wins, 5 losses and 2 draws, with 30 wins by
knockout. Tapia had many tattoos done around his body, and his tattoos
are prominent when he is fighting. One of them says Mi Vida Loca (My
Crazy Life), the nickname he has adopted over the last few years. He
wrote an autobiography by that title. At age eight he witnessed the
kidnapping of his own mother. She was tied up and taken away by a man.
She was raped, and her body found next to a road a few days later.
Tapia had problems dealing with that and started using drugs when he
was a teenager. But he also started a career in boxing, and became an
Olympic hopeful. While he was still addicted to drugs, Tapia built a
record of 150 wins and 12 losses as an amateur. His opponents included
Arthur Johnson, Richard Duran and Todd Foster during this period. His
professional career began on March 28, 1988, when he beat Efren Chavez
by a knockout in round four in Irvine, California. He won eight fights
that year, five by knockout, of which four were in the first round. But
his career took an enormous step backwards when he was found with
drugs, and this time he was suspended from boxing for three years. He
had to start over from scratch when he was finally able to return in
1994. On February 18 of 1995, Tapia was given a shot at WBO World
Junior Bantamweight champion Jose Rafael Sosa. Tapia became a world
champion in his own hometown by defeating Sosa on a twelve round
decision. He retained the title with a knockout in eight rounds of
Ricardo Vargas and a decision in twelve against former amateur nemesis
Arthur Johnson. After two more wins, he gave Willy Salazar a title
shot, knocking him out in nine rounds. In 1999, Tapia suffered his
first loss, losing a twelve round decision and the WBA world title belt
to Paulie Ayala in what Ring Magazine called its fight of the year.
That year also, he tried to commit suicide with a drug overdose, and
required hospitalization. Back quickly after that and his first defeat,
he was given a chance at the WBO world title belt, and he became a two
time World Bantamweight champion. In 2002, Tapia traveled to London,
England, for his first professional fight abroad. There, he knocked out
Eduardo Enrique Alvarez in the first round. Tapia came back on the
night of October 4, 2003, defeating Carlos Contreras by ten round
unanimous decision at Albuquerque. Tapia was arrested in Bullhead City,
Arizona the night of January 10, 2003 for resisting arrest along with
his cousin, who is wanted on charges in New Mexico. He was not sent to
jail immediately, but now he faces new charges for resisting arrest.
After his arrest, he returned home to Las Vegas, and there, he slipped
onto the floor, crashing his head against the concrete and having to be
hospitalized in critical condition. He was in stable condition at
first, but he recuperated and was later released. On December 21 of
that year, Tapia mistook a medicine that contained codeine, to which he
is allergic, with Tylenol. He took the wrong medicine, and had to spend
one night hospitalized as a result. Tapia's last fight was in 2011 at
the Hard Rock Casino near Albuquerque. He was found dead in his home
May 27, 2012 at age 45.
