Tapia was a good fighter for longer than Lionel but Rose at his best was the better fighter if that makes sense. The Rose of his title winning effort was magnificent. His counter punching was top shelf and his combinations were fast and dazzling. He outclassed an excellent fighter in Harada in an amazing performance by a 19 year old. I don’t think Johnny has a performance that quite matches this but he was a very good fighter himself and he’d be competitive for large parts of a fight with Rose. Although not a powerful puncher Rose was a big and strong bantamweight and he’d get on top of Tapia in the last 3rd of the fight and dominate down the stretch to take a clear UD over 15.
When was Tapia ever outclassed at a point remotely near his prime? I actually think that a disciplined Tapia is the better boxer here.
Lol. Based on what? Do you think Tapia is putting a master class on Harada? Tapia's best win was a narrow victory over Romero. Kinda pales in comparison to what Rose did. And Tapia was NOT the better boxer.
Lionel Rose was schooled by Aust master trainer Jack Rennie. Tapia was skilled by Rose a whole another level. Rose pts.
It appears the boxing world figured Rose out pretty quickly at a pretty young age Harada was pretty much toast and the fight was razor thin in my recollection. Tapia, despite being off the rails, was over 30 before he was beat. He had great fundamentals that he sometimes ignored in order to entertain, but the skills were there. I will rewatch the Harada fight and try to find the magic.
Or try the Castillo fight. Even if you think it was close enough to go either way a prime Castillo and that version of Harada are still more impressive than anything Tapia did. Nothing against Tapia, he was a good, fundamental boxer-puncher. He just wasn't the boxer Rose was .
Razor thin? So Harada was toast, but then went up in weight and basically beat Famechon for the Featherweight title?
He basically didn't beat him and got KO'd for his troubles in the return. Did he retire on top? I'm not saying Rose wasn't great for a minute. I am saying that Tapia is in his league and that Tapia was very skilled... He's a guy who consistently gets short shrift here.
Everyone knows Harada won against Famechon. Just watch the footage. He lost his desire after that decision. I'd struggle to pick Tapia over a peak Watanabe or Moon at Super Flyweight, let alone a peak Rose at Bantam, his best weight. And I'm a Tapia fan.
