Yeah it was a bit of a chess match, but it had lots of action and great exchanges. Both were dropped in the fight as well.
I hear ya....I just hate how Tapia came along when flyweight-bantamweight didnt have alot of great or marketable fighters. He was starting his decline once he got to Ayala. Imagine a prime Johnny Tapia fighting Fernando Montiel, Vic Darchinyan, Rafael Marquez, Jhonny Gonzalez, or Alexander Munoz. Those would have been great fights. Damned weak era's..... hurt some of the greats.
it was similar to Holmes-Shavers how Holmes and Saad recovered from such hard knockdowns ill never know.
that fight was even up until the stoppage,that fact that gatti got badly cut,knocked down&stopped(due to the cut) seem to cloud peoples memories,it wasnt a one sided beat down,it was give&take.:good
no doubt and i think Tapia would probably beat all those guys. btw its a shame him and Mark Johnson never fought each other.
ive been trying to see that fight for a long time.the Ring considered it the best bantam fight of the last 80 years.