As a wife, as a woman, Ive learnt theres good and bad in everyone and you have to accept them. 1967213 () . In 2007 Johnny overdosed again and was taken to hospital where he lay in a coma. 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. Benitez first won the 140-pound WBA light-welterweight title from Antonio Cervantes on March 6, 1976, at the age of 17. Birth place: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. I wanted to get him and stab him the same way he did my mom. But he went on with his careerand was paid two million dollars to face legendary champion Marco Antonio Barrera in 2002. He was at his lowest, he was living on the streets. His first pro fight was in 1988. 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? Tapia's split with the Romero family had not been on good terms. NOTE: Johnny Tapia died one year later, in May 2012, from heart failure. Tapia was married to Teresa Tapia in 1994 and had three boys. Mike Tyson called Tapia one of the greatest fighters ever. Highlights of Johnny Tapia's best combinations & knockouts.Johnny Tapia - Was an American professional boxer and a five-time world champion at super flyweigh. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Investigators said there were no indications of a drug overdose or alcohol use but that the 45-year-old former fighter likely developed medical complications from past illegal drug use. 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. Press conferences about the Super Six have just taken place and Tapias eyes twitch as Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch amble past. Realizing his habits, she at first resisted. He experienced frequent relapses over the next few years and several overdoses. Johnny Tapia vs. Paulie Ayala (1st meeting) - BoxRec Johnny Tapia vs. Paulie Ayala (1st meeting) Paulie Ayala 118 lbs beat Johnny Tapia 118 lbs by UD in round 12 of 12 Date: 1999-06-26 Location: Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Referee: Joe Cortez Judge: Guy Jutras 115-114 Judge: Duane Ford 116-113 Judge: Fernando Viso 116-113 Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. Tapia was inducted during 2017, posthumously, to the Internation The family lived in Albuquerque, NM.[13]. 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. He was still getting high and was now training under Freddie Roach (whose speech is demonstrably clearer in documentary footage than it is today). Johnny Tapia was an American boxer, who competed in the super flyweight division. But I have lived and had it all. 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. Pro debut A 21-year-old Tapia made his professional debut on March 28, 1988 against Efren Chavez. He was famous for being a Boxer. I tried to find him, right before the Paulie Ayala fight. Showing Editorial results for johnny tapia. The widow of former world champion Johnny Tapia has remarried. Tapia's dad was murdered while his mom was pregnant with him. She couldnt leave him. 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. On May 27 of 2012, Johnny Tapia was found dead. None of it occurred on Teresas watch. He also remembers the misery that attacked the highs and hauled everything down. Johnny Tapia was born on the 13th of February, 1967. If you change your mind, go to Notifications in the menu to enable browser notifications. He had made that his motto after he thought he had outgrown his first, baby-faced assassin.. Johnny Tapia. His story is well documented but remains as horrifically shocking today as it ever was. Johnny was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, on February 13, 1967. As I walk away, I wonder if he still will be after a night gliding through the silky temptations of Vegas. Data may be incomplete and inaccurate. When he was eight years old, his mother, Virginia, was kidnapped, raped, repeatedly stabbed, and left for dead by her assailant. [17] Tapia died of heart failure. Tapia won his first 22 professional fights, then was suspended from boxing after failing three drug tests. The 45-year-old has been clean for over two years now, since being released from prison and embarking on a comeback. 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. 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." The widow of former world championJohnny Tapia has remarried. Tapia won by a unanimous twelve-round decision, adding the IBF title to his WBO belt. With tragic irony, it was his heartwhich had never once let him down inside the ringthat failed him. Johnny always makes sure were with him when he goes anywhere. But lacing the incessant promises not to rekindle his affair with his mistress is uncertainty and fear that hell stray again. You want to talk about stabbing people in jail? Tapia ponders about his mindset at that dark time. She is happy to be his side, observing and listening. Tapia was hospitalized in critical condition from an apparent cocaine overdose at Albuquerque Presbyterian Hospital. 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. Four times I was declared dead. 1997 saw Tapia fend off a challenge from Jorge Barrera in three rounds. Johnny Tapia fights Manuel Medina in a 2002 IBF featherweight championship bout at Madison Square Garden in New York. His 1999 loss by decision to Paulie Ayala was named the Fight of the Year by The Ring magazine. Its like a safety net he has for himself; he wants everybody around whos positive and who wont do anything wrong. He had many tattoos, which were prominent when he was fighting. Nobody puts their hands on my mama. Using DNA evidence, investigators solved the crime, pinning it on the last man to have been seen with her. 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?. If a human being is a vessel of emotions, Tapia was a powder keg, perpetually on the verge of implosion. Tapia, a five time world champion, might be one of the greatest television fighters ever, a distinction he shares with fellow 90s legend Arturo Gatti. Tapia down in round 6, Pastrana down in round 8. He sniffs twice and swallows the build up of tears that bubble beneath the surface. The crazy life of Johnny Tapia a five-time world champion boxer who once wrote that he had been raised to fight to the death ended this week at age 45. His father had reportedly been murdered while his mother was pregnant with him. They were united by grief, welded with misery. After a standout, Golden Gloves-winning amateur career, Tapia turned pro. Blanco lost one point in round nine for low blows. 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. 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). Tapia returned on the night of October 4, 2003, defeating Carlos Contreras by ten round unanimous decision at Albuquerque. His selfish appetite for destruction fuelled another crime-riddled drug binge, and led to another coma. Hes been like a freak of nature where hes never really taken any type of punishment in the ring where hes been hurt which has been a blessing, she says in her suitably angelic voice. Then I outlived her after I said I wouldnt. The striking advertisement for sobriety in this land of the wasted is Johnny Tapia, perhaps the most infamous substance-abusing boxer of all time. 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 Not included in the police report was young Johnnys memory of being awakened by screaming and looking out the window to see his mother chained in the back of a pickup truck driving by the house, Sports Illustrated said. Teresa loves it when her husband chuckles like that; it means he is in a good place. Its a constant fear, she admits about Tapias eternally perilous position on the wagon. Not from a drug overdose, but from heart failure. Albuquerque, he says, Im still your champion.. [14] He was a born-again Christian. His 1999 loss by decision to Paulie Ayala was named the Fight of the Year by The Ring magazine. Tapia won a dubious decision, becoming a world title holder in three different divisions. He would have been 50 years old today. 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. His laughter is curly and instantly infectious. After the Barrera fight, Tapias problems with drug abuse became more acute. 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.[6]. All of Tapias pain and psychological torment is traced to its source in this one admission. His father was murdered before he was born. Bout made at a catchweight of 124 pounds. Its more natural to embrace it. The lone walker, probing the wilderness as though in search of existential meaning, is Johnny Tapia, who was born in Albuquerque but given his chance at life in the ring. [16] 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.[15]. Johnny Tapia was an American boxer, who competed in the super flyweight division. John Lee Anthony Tapia (February 13, 1967 - May 27, 2012) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2011. > She opened the bathroom door and found Tapia with a needle in his arm. The intoxicant was perhaps the only thing capable of ordering his thoughts. I just want to say Good night mama. That same day, Tapia was upgraded from critical to serious condition. Tapia died at his Albuquerque home in 2012. Their rivalry had begun many years earlier when Romero's father trained both boxers. It is when she cant see him that she worries. Get TMZ breaking news sent right to your browser. Out of it, their influence held sway. Though an active professional, Tapia belonged to a street gang and began using cocaine as a young man. That was his life.. Matt Christie has been hooked on boxing since he picked up a copy of A Pictorial History of Boxing in 1985 as a seven-year-old. Wladimir Klitschko (en ukrainien : ; transcription franaise : Volodymyr Volodymyrovytch Klytchko) est un boxeur ukrainien, n le 25 mars 1976 Semipalatinsk (actuel Seme) en RSS kazakhe.. Scores: 98-92, 96-94, 99-93. From the age of eight, he has wanted to die. "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. Tapia never ran from his own darkness so much as he perpetually hovered over it. 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 2010, at age 43, Tapia learned that apparently, his father was alive. 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.