Johnny Tapia: World Championships Across Three Divisions
Johnny “Mi Vida Loca” Tapia was an American boxer from Albuquerque, New Mexico, who won world championships at super flyweight, bantamweight and featherweight.
Career and major results
Tapia turned professional in 1988. He stopped Henry Martinez in the eleventh round in 1994 to win the vacant WBO super-flyweight title and unified with the IBF belt by defeating Danny Romero in 1997.
At bantamweight, he defeated Nana Konadu for the WBA title in 1998. Paulie Ayala handed him his first professional defeat in 1999, in a bout named The Ring’s Fight of the Year.
Tapia won the WBO bantamweight belt against Jorge Julio in 2000 and the IBF featherweight championship against Manuel Medina in 2002.
He retired after a 2011 victory over Mauricio Pastrana with a record of 59 wins, five losses and two draws. Tapia died on May 27, 2012, and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2017.
Tapia’s title history crossed three divisions, with the Romero fight unifying super-flyweight belts and later wins adding bantamweight and featherweight championships. Ayala’s 1999 victory was the first loss on Tapia’s record; Tapia continued to win titles afterward. His final record and Hall of Fame induction reflect both a long career and its setbacks.
Sources
Sources: boxhall.wixsite.com
Related reading: Boxing
Related references: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Tapia https://www.amazon.com/Mi-Vida-Loca-Crazy-Johnny/dp/1566252717 https://www.essentiallysports.com/boxing-news-r-i-pwhat-a-star-ebanie-bridges-join-fans-in-remembering-hall-of-famer-boxer-who-died-of-heart-failure/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/boxing/2017/06/10/column-the-crazy-life-of-boxer-johnny-tapia/102707248/
Tags
Boxing, Boxing History
