[GUEST ACCESS MODE: Data is scrambled or limited to provide examples. Make requests using your API key to unlock full data. Check https://lunarcrush.ai/auth for authentication information.]  20th Century Boxing: Icons, Memories & More [@20thCentBoxIMM](/creator/twitter/20thCentBoxIMM) on x XXX followers Created: 2025-07-18 09:01:24 UTC Johnny Tapia wins a 12-round unanimous decision over Danny Romero Jr. on July 18, 1997 at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada in a Super Flyweight Title unification bout. Tapia and Romero had both grown up in New Mexico and offered a study in contrasts: while Tapia had originally been regarded as the state's boxing prodigy, his drug suspension allowed Romero to emerge as a clean-cut new star in his absence. The Romero family had also trained Tapia as a youth and the split between the two camps had not been a clean one. As such, the match produced extra intrigue, with thousands of New Mexicans traveling to Las Vegas for the fight. Broadcaster HBO noted that extra security measures (such as metal detectors and mandatory pat-downs for fans, now commonplace at American sporting venues but then seen as strict) were put in place at turnstiles, as it had been rumored that gangs in New Mexico had split allegiances behind either Tapia and Romero and Thomas and Mack Center officials feared a violent riot if controversy emerged during the fight. WBO Titlist Tapia adds the IBF belt to his resume with the win. ---------------------------------------------------------- Tapia held the WBO and IBF Super Flyweight Titles, the WBA and WBO bantamweight Ttiles, and the IBF Featherweight Title during his twenty-three year (1988-2011) career in which he finished 59-5-2 with XX KO wins. ---------------------------------------------------------- To say that Johnny Tapia had a difficult childhood, and even adulthood, would be an understatement of great proportions: Jerry Padilla, Tapia's father, vanished before he was born. Tapia thought he was dead, but he turned up in 2010 after being released from a federal penitentiary. DNA tests confirmed his paternity. Virginia Tapia, Johnny's mother, had been murdered when he was just eight years old. Tapia's uncles had made him fight older boys in matches. They would bet on him to win and beat him if he lost. Tapia was raised by his maternal grandparents. Miguel Tapia, Johnny's grandfather, had been an amateur boxing champion and taught his grandson how to box. Tapia struggled with drugs and alcohol for many years. He was declared clinically dead five times as a result of drug overdoses and attempted suicide several times. On May 27, 2013, Johnny Tapia was found dead inside his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The autopsy report stated that Tapia's death was the result of heart problems and the onset of Hepatitis C, likely from the many tattoos he had. Teresa Tapia shared the autopsy report with reporters at a press conference on August 21, 2013, and said she was doing it to dispel the myth that her husband died after using illegal drugs. "This shows that he did not die of a drug overdose," she said. "It doesn't make the pain go away, but I felt I needed to say that." Investigators found one Hydrocodone tablet, a painkiller, on the floor beside his body. They said there were no indications of an overdose or alcohol use, but that the 45-year-old former fighter likely developed medical complications from past illegal drug use. Teresa Tapia said her husband was taking medication for his bipolar disorder and for his high blood pressure. At the beginning of his 2006 autobiography, Mi Vida Loca: The Crazy Life of Johnny Tapia, Tapia wrote: "My name is Johnny Lee Tapia. I was born on Friday the 13th. A Friday in February of 1967. To this day I don't know if that makes me lucky or unlucky. When I was eight I saw my mother murdered. I never knew my father. He was murdered before I was born. I was raised as a pit bull. Raised to fight to the death. Four times I was declared dead. Four times they wanted to pull life support. And many more times I came close to dying. But I have lived and had it all. I have been wealthy and lost it all. I have been famous and infamous. Five times I was world champion. You tell me. Am I lucky or unlucky?"  XX engagements  **Related Topics** [mexico](/topic/mexico) [vegas](/topic/vegas) [unanimous decision](/topic/unanimous-decision) [Post Link](https://x.com/20thCentBoxIMM/status/1946133187945529626)
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20th Century Boxing: Icons, Memories & More @20thCentBoxIMM on x XXX followers
Created: 2025-07-18 09:01:24 UTC
Johnny Tapia wins a 12-round unanimous decision over Danny Romero Jr. on July 18, 1997 at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada in a Super Flyweight Title unification bout.
Tapia and Romero had both grown up in New Mexico and offered a study in contrasts: while Tapia had originally been regarded as the state's boxing prodigy, his drug suspension allowed Romero to emerge as a clean-cut new star in his absence. The Romero family had also trained Tapia as a youth and the split between the two camps had not been a clean one. As such, the match produced extra intrigue, with thousands of New Mexicans traveling to Las Vegas for the fight. Broadcaster HBO noted that extra security measures (such as metal detectors and mandatory pat-downs for fans, now commonplace at American sporting venues but then seen as strict) were put in place at turnstiles, as it had been rumored that gangs in New Mexico had split allegiances behind either Tapia and Romero and Thomas and Mack Center officials feared a violent riot if controversy emerged during the fight.
WBO Titlist Tapia adds the IBF belt to his resume with the win.
Tapia held the WBO and IBF Super Flyweight Titles, the WBA and WBO bantamweight Ttiles, and the IBF Featherweight Title during his twenty-three year (1988-2011) career in which he finished 59-5-2 with XX KO wins.
To say that Johnny Tapia had a difficult childhood, and even adulthood, would be an understatement of great proportions:
Jerry Padilla, Tapia's father, vanished before he was born. Tapia thought he was dead, but he turned up in 2010 after being released from a federal penitentiary. DNA tests confirmed his paternity.
Virginia Tapia, Johnny's mother, had been murdered when he was just eight years old.
Tapia's uncles had made him fight older boys in matches. They would bet on him to win and beat him if he lost.
Tapia was raised by his maternal grandparents.
Miguel Tapia, Johnny's grandfather, had been an amateur boxing champion and taught his grandson how to box.
Tapia struggled with drugs and alcohol for many years. He was declared clinically dead five times as a result of drug overdoses and attempted suicide several times.
On May 27, 2013, Johnny Tapia was found dead inside his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The autopsy report stated that Tapia's death was the result of heart problems and the onset of Hepatitis C, likely from the many tattoos he had.
Teresa Tapia shared the autopsy report with reporters at a press conference on August 21, 2013, and said she was doing it to dispel the myth that her husband died after using illegal drugs.
"This shows that he did not die of a drug overdose," she said. "It doesn't make the pain go away, but I felt I needed to say that."
Investigators found one Hydrocodone tablet, a painkiller, on the floor beside his body. They said there were no indications of an overdose or alcohol use, but that the 45-year-old former fighter likely developed medical complications from past illegal drug use. Teresa Tapia said her husband was taking medication for his bipolar disorder and for his high blood pressure.
At the beginning of his 2006 autobiography, Mi Vida Loca: The Crazy Life of Johnny Tapia, Tapia wrote:
"My name is Johnny Lee Tapia. I was born on Friday the 13th. A Friday in February of 1967. To this day I don't know if that makes me lucky or unlucky. When I was eight I saw my mother murdered. I never knew my father. He was murdered before I was born. I was raised as a pit bull. Raised to fight to the death. Four times I was declared dead. Four times they wanted to pull life support. And many more times I came close to dying. But I have lived and had it all. I have been wealthy and lost it all. I have been famous and infamous. Five times I was world champion. You tell me. Am I lucky or unlucky?"
XX engagements
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