Pound-for-Pound Series: No.10, Johnny "Mi Vida Loca" Tapia

Thanks to a great suggestion from Mathew Gruman, one of our Heavy Hands fans, I’m launching a new blog series today on the top 10 best pound-for-pound fighters in history. I will focus on both boxing and MMA in this new series and you may be surprised at some of the people I have on my list.

I agree with Justin Wet, another one of our Heavy Hands fans, that the title of “best pound-for-pound” fighter gets tossed around way too much. With that said, I don’t think there’s any concrete way to determine who makes the list. This list will be based on my opinions, and if you think I’m full of shit please feel free to let me know.

Number 10 on my list is Johnny “Mi Vida Loca” Tapia. As a disclaimer, Johnny is my favorite boxer of all time. Being from New Mexico, Tapia is a legend in this state and a folk hero to many New Mexicans. I have had the opportunity to hang out with him a few times and I can tell you that he is truly one of the nicest people I have ever met. But that is not why he is on my list.

Winning the National Golden Gloves Light Flyweight Championship in 1983 and the National Golden Gloves Flyweight Championship in 1985, Tapia’s amateur career showed great promise. One of the few fighters in history to hold a championship belt in two weight classes, Tapia’s successful start was a precursor to his phenomenal professional career, which began in 1988.

Tapia hit the ground running. He had eight fights in his first professional year and recorded five knockouts, with four in the first round. Tapia made an immediate impact on the boxing world as a fighter who always showed up well-trained and fought with a ferocity that could not be matched. Tapia was an old school kind of fighter who fought as much as he could and didn’t turn down opponents. When he started winning championships he did not retreat into the comfort of fame; he kept taking on all comers.

Winning his first title in 1994, Tapia beat Johnny Bredahal as the WBO Super Flyweight Champion ; the first of six world championships he would hold between 1994 and 2002. Tapia also held championship belts in the bantamweight and featherweight divisions, which is unheard of today.

Tapia’s most significant fight and championship belt came in 1997 when he beat Danny Romero for the IBF Super Flyweight Championship. Romero was a skilled technical fighter in the ring and fierce rival of Tapia. They are both from Albuquerque, but Romero had a very clean-cut image compared to the checkered past of Tapia. Many fight experts did not give Tapia a chance to beat Romero, but he picked him apart round by round. By the third round, Tapia was in total control and dominated Romero.

Tapia has also had to overcome a lot of adversity over the years, including drug addiction and the childhood trauma of watching his mother being kidnapped and subsequently murdered. He has had his share of run-ins with the law and has nearly died from drug overdoses, but in spite of these hardships, he never blamed anyone for the mistakes he made in his life. Instead, he has worked as hard outside the ring as inside to beat his personal demons and never let them stop him from achieving his goals. I think that speaks volumes about his character as a boxer and a human being.

Tapia had a successful 20 year career as a professional boxer, fought two legendary battles with Paulie Alaya, silenced his critics with his win over Romero, stood up to that vile cocksucker, Don King, and earned the respect of many with his perseverance to fight his inner demons. Tapia will go down in the history books as one of the greatest boxers of all time.

~Tip

Here's a video about Johnny:

Tippy is the Heavy Hands blogger and can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it