R.I.P Johnny Tapia

[RockyJim]

Shame...loved watching him fight...tough guy...R.I.P. Champ...

[Seamus]

He's a guy who isn't mentioned often enough on this board. Everyone always pulls out "gutsy" to describe him in the ring. However, "skilled" is the first word that comes to my mind. He had a great and varied skill set and a very high level of talent to execute it.

The sport is less without his charismatic performances. He will be missed.

RIP.

[apollack]

Oh, the High Highs and Low Lows of Johnny Tapia.

My favorite Tapia fights were WUD8 John Michael Johnson, WTKO11 Henry Martinez, TKO9 Willy Salazar, W12 Danny Romero, L12 Paulie Ayala I + II (losing efforts but fun, close, high quality competitive fights), and KO3 Cesar Soto (an underrated victory against a big strong guy who had never been stopped before).

[TBooze]

An excellent fighter; I really enjoyed the Romero fight.

[red cobra]

He was indeed an excellent fighter..R.I.P.

[Boxed Ears]

Originally Posted by Seamus

He's a guy who isn't mentioned often enough on this board. Everyone always pulls out "gutsy" to describe him in the ring. However, "skilled" is the first word that comes to my mind. He had a great and varied skill set and a very high level of talent to execute it.

The sport is less without his charismatic performances. He will be missed.

RIP.

Aye.

[greynotsoold]

I remember watching him on ESPN, prior to his 'lay-off', and he was soooo good. He was more of a boxer then, fought less than he did later, and he'd be landing 72% of his punches. He had that beautiful double left hook to the body.

[Senor Pepe']

Memories of Johnny Tapia

July 7, 1988 - Defeating Danny Romero in Las Vegas

Johnny was 'So Happy That Night'

He was at the 'Pinnacle of his Career'