I don't watch 80s superflys. 115 was shallow when Tapia fought there. It's a lot better now. Tapia would probably win some and lose some with the guys I listed. But definitely would lose to Inoue and Donaire.
I fail to see how you can confidently make a top five super-flyweights and admit that you haven't watched the best fighters at super flyweight. It's deeper now, but that doesn't mean Rungvisai and Estrada are better fighters than Tapia. I highly, highly doubt that 115 Chocolatito does so well vs Tapia. Even if he did lose to those two, they didn't accomplish enough at the weight to be top five.
Rungvisai and Estrada have more impressive 115 resumes than Tapia. Sor has three wins that are better than anything Tapia had at 115 and Estrada has at least two, and at most four, wins that are ahead of anything Tapia has there, depending on if you put Cuadras above Romero.
Estrada and Rungvisai have a controversial over Chocolatito each, and they have a win over eachother. Rungvisai has the second Chocolatito win. None of that is better than a long ass title run with the Romero win. Not to mention that they're clearly lesser fighters, on film.
I do not think Tapia exceeds those wins and the rest of their resumes at 115. I do not give Tapia an eye test pass.
He got energy from the fans about as much as anyone. I'm not sure he ever lost to Ayala at 118. Close fights. Tapia won the 2nd bout imo. Beat Romero is a signature matchup. Johnny Tapia was outstanding. Could always say what if? With him without those demons he wouldn't have been Johnny Tapia.
I was going to make the comparison to Cuadras, but I see it has already been made. Midget Wolgast was another who closely resembled the Tapia style.
Great fighter, always entertaining, never in a dull fight. Who knows how things would have turned out for him had he not struggled with addiction and being pulled in by bad influences.
Not @126. Tapia was just playing out the string at that point. Barrera dominated him. Maybe in a p4p sense but Hamed was a great puncher.
If you combined their styles, sure. However, neither Pep nor Conn fought particularly like Wolgast on their own. The comparison to Tapia works for me because I see a lot of the same craziness in their approach, like neither truly knew what they were going to do in there, as opposed to the single-mindedness you might get with a Pep or Conn.
One of the most exciting fighters in his era. Always a fun fighter to watch who always entertained the crowd with his hyperactive style. He was a versatile fighter who can box or brawl, had fast hands and feet, good reflexes, sharp combination punches, hard chin, mean left hook, very tough and a lot of heart, and his willingness to make it a fight while playing to the crowd. He fought like he was puncher even though he had decent power but had some hurtful shots. His emotion does get the better of him which makes him fight to the level of his opponents. IMO he was one of the best 115 - 118 lb fighters. Would have loved to have seen him with the likes of Chocolatito, Estrada, SSR, Ioka, etc.
