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BoztheMadman

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  1. But he was athletic and strong and tough, as you said.
  2. His nickname was “El Cepillo”, meaning the brush, probably a reference to his smooth boxing style, but Joel Casamayor was not just a smooth and slick boxer: he also was a warrior. He was probably one of the most successful Cuban boxers that turned pro and one of few to enjoy a long and fruitful professional career. On the downside, he was known to use his head in fights and probably had a big ego, but that was not strange given his talent and accomplishments. He was fast, hit hard and had a very good chin too, only getting stopped twice, in his twilight years. He was also avoided by some of the best p4p boxers of his time. Joel Casamayor Johnson was born on 12 July 1971 in Guantanamo, Cuba, where the only US army base was located. As amateur, he won the 1989 Junior World Championships (bantamweight), the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona (bantamweight) and also a silver at the 1993 World Championships (featherweight) and a bronze at the World Cup in 1994. His record is 363 wins and 30 losses. On the eve of 1996 Olympics, he defected to United States and turned pro on 20 September, winning his first fight by KO1. After going 14-0, on 30 January ‘99 he won the NABF super featherweight title by UD12 against Jose Luis Noyola. He never defended it, instead winning the WBA interim title against Antonio Hernandez on 19 June same year, again by UD12. After making one defense by another UD against David Santos, on 21 May 2000 he faced the unbeaten 21-0-1 South Korean Jong Kwon Baek and stopped him on cuts by TKO5 after soundly dominating the fight. His championship glory could now begin. He made his first defense against Radford Beasley on 16 September same year and again won by TKO5. For his second one, he faced former IBF-champion Robert Garcia, today a famous trainer, on 6 January 2001. Garcia gave the champion some trouble and was ahead on one of the cards going into ninth round, when Casamayor turned up the heat and dropped him before stopping him on his feet. He would make two more successful defenses before fighting in a big title unification fight against Brazilian star and the other big name at 130: Acelino Freitas, who held the WBO title and was 30-0 with 29 ko’s. Freitas was both a monster puncher and a very fast-footed guy and he opened best in the first three rounds. It was on 12 January 2002 at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas that Casamayor found himself on the canvas for the first time, as he got dropped in the third round while backpedaling against the ropes. He protested, saying it was a slip, but it didn’t help. He came back and landed some good punches, but was unable to really establish himself and the battle remained even and competitive, both guys having equally many moments. However, the knockdown went against him and he lost by 114-112 on all scorecards in the end. There would be no rematch. Casamayor rebounded by stopping Juan Jose Arias by TKO8 and Yoni Vargas by TKO5, before fighting the 23-0 Nate Campbell and winning by UD10 in January 2003. On 4 October that year, he faced the freak of nature- the heavy hitting 5’11 Diego Chico Corrales. The vacant IBA belt was at stake and Casa became the second man to defeat Corrales after knocking him down twice and getting knocked down himself once, before the fight had to be stopped after the sixth round because of two cuts inside the mouth of Corrales. In 2004, they had a rematch on 6 March, now also with the vacant WBO belt on the line, and this time, despite knocking Corrales down in the tenth round, Casa lost by a disputed split decision. After winning a tough fight against Daniel Seda on points, he then landed a fight for the WBC lightweight title against the champion Jose Luis Castillo. It happened on 4 December at Mandalay Bay and once again, Casa lost by a disputed split decision, after outboxing Castillo for much of the fight and giving him more trouble than anyone since Floyd Mayweather. He now moved up to lightweight for good and next year on 11 June he fought the new contender, the Kyrgyz warrior Almazbek “Kid Diamond” Raiymkulov, in a WBC-eliminator. He dropped Raiymkulov in the first round, but struggled against the offensive and tough Kid Diamond, in the end escaping with a split draw in a fight where many thought Raiymkulov had the edge. One judge also scored it 116-111 for the Kyrgyz. In 2006, Casamayor had a couple easier fights and stopped the semi-contender Lamont Pearson by TKO9. He then finally landed another fight for the WBC title, which Castillo had to vacate because he couldn’t make the weight. His opponent was his old rival, Diego Corrales. It was on 7 October ‘06 at Mandalay Bay that JC finally became a world champion again by winning by SD against Corrales, who had also failed to make the weight. However, he was then stripped of the WBC belt in February for unknown reasons, possibly refusing to fight a mandatory. He still had The Ring belt which he had also won against Corrales. He therefore faced Jose Santa Cruz for the interim WBC belt on 10 November ‘07 at Madison Square Garden. In another underwhelming performance, Casa was down in round one and seemed to lose the majority of the rounds, yet somehow got a split decision victory. This has been called one of the worst decisions in this century. He was therefore an underdog when he faced the new exciting young warrior in the division: Michael Katsidis of Australia. Katsidis held the interim WBO title and defended it against Casamayor on 22 March ‘08 in Cabazon, USA. In a great barnburner, Casa dropped Katsidis twice in the opening round but was down and through the ropes in the sixth, before coming back and ending the fight in the tenth with a perfectly timed left hook and then a short follow up. It was a great victory in a war against a much younger and favored man, but that would prove to be his final great achievement. He relinquished the belt to fight his probably greatest opponent yet, Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico, another slick and clever guy and a warrior. Before the fight, Casamayor was very confident of victory and angered the Marquez fans with arrogant statements. The fight itself happened on 13 September at MGM Grand. JC had success in the early rounds as he caught JMM coming in repeatedly and Marquez seemed to struggle with his timing and movement. In the middle rounds, Marquez started to take over but the fight remained competitive until round 11, when Marquez forced him to the ropes and dropped him twice before the fight was over. Casamayor just looked helplessly on as he got stopped for the first time after 12 years as a pro. He then entered his last weight class, light welterweight. After beating Jason Davis on points in eight rounds, he fought Robert Guerrero, a strong technical fighter, on 31 July 2010. Both guys were down once but Guerrero was far more dominant and won by lopsided scores. After scoring his last victory against Manuel Leyva by SD10 on 11 March next year, he got to fight his last world title bout against the WBO champion Timothy Bradley, then rated as one of top 5 p4p-ers. As Bradley also was known for using his head a lot, Casa jokingly posed before the fight with a helmet on his head. It was on 12 November ‘11 at MGM Grand that father fime caught up good with Joel, as he was taken apart by average-punching Bradley and put down three times before being stopped by TKO8. He was now 40 and retired after 15 years as a pro, with a record of 38 wins, 22 by ko, 6 losses and 1 draw. About half of his losses are questionable, but so is one of his wins and that draw, so it almost evens out. Joel Casamayor was a guy who could do it all, play chess, fight a war, box and punch. He has claimed Floyd Mayweather ducked him, which is possible knowing both were champions at 130 at the same time but there was never an attempt to get that fight made. We can only imagine how the outcome of that fight would be. He has been unfavorably treated by the judges several times and due to never being able to build a big enough fanbase in the States and fighting some of the most popular fighters of that time, he never quite got his full due. But his achievements speak for themselves.
  3. Also spelled Kim Ji-hoon, this guy was pure action! Nicknamed “Volcano” and justly so, JKH was an explosive and hard hitting boxer who defeated and knocked out a few good or solid fighters, but came short of becoming the world champion. At 5’9 or 176 cm, he was also a tall lightweight and had a rather good chin, getting knocked out only twice-but interestingly, both times in the first round. He has fought for the IBF title, losing on points to Miguel Vazquez. He was born 17 January 1987 in Goyang City, South Korea, and started fighting as a pro after only six weeks of training! That is how much he loved to fight and he was still only 17 when he became a pro, first fighting at featherweight, having his first fight on 5 October 2004 in Chungu, SK, and losing on a 4-round decision. He then scored two second-round knockouts before losing another decision in 4 and then in the next fight he got knocked out for the first time against the debuting Byung Kyung Yoon, in the first round. That was on 26 January 2005 and it would go a while before he would get knocked out again. He captured the national featherweight title on 25 September that same year, knocking out Jung Hoo Kim in 2 rounds. In 2008, he relocated to Philadelphia and moved up to 130, immediately getting a fight against a better opponent in Koba Gogoladze of Georgia, fighting him on 16 May in Las Vegas. Kim showed his impressive offensive skills and power by stopping Gogoladze by TKO 1; after first appearing to be in trouble, he dropped the Georgian and then stopped him shortly thereafter and thus he introduced himself to the boxing world. He would then go on a knockout streak and on 12 September 2009 he won the minor IBO title by stopping Zolani Marali by TKO 9 in his own homeland, South Africa. He vacated the title soon thereafter to move up to 135 and then first fought Tyron Harris and dropped him once en route to a TKO 5 victory. This gave him an IBF-eliminator fight against Ammeth Diaz of Panama, another big puncher, at that time probably the hardest one at 135. Panamanian Diaz had more experience, but Kim produced his best victory on the night of 21 May 2010, in Laredo, Texas. At first, Diaz had the upper hand and shook Kim with a combo, but warrior Kim fought back and in the last 20 seconds he nailed Diaz with a perfect counter right which put him down. Although Diaz got up in time, he couldn’t stand properly and the fight was waved off with one second left of the first round. This of course gave Kim the Volcano a fight for the vacant IBF belt, which had been stripped from Nate Campbell for not making the weight. Kim faced the 5’10 Mexican technician Miguel Vazquez on the night of 14 August, once again in Laredo. This time, things wouldn’t go well as Vazquez simply proved too hard to hit and too clever and he won the title with the scores of 119-109, 120-108 and 118-110. Kim took another fight only two months later, which proved a mistake, as he went to Australia to fight their hopeful, the 24-0 Leonardo Zappavigna. It was on 31 October, Halloween Night, that Kim experienced his second devastating knockout loss. He started aggressively and the shorter Zappavigna then nailed him with a left and a big right after 1 minute and 4 seconds that put Kim on his backside. Kim got up immediately and was given an eight count. Only seconds later, Kim was sent down again by an overhand right and got up. This time he looked shaken and after taking a few more big punches, the referee stepped in and waved it off at 1:41. This was also an IBF-eliminator, which meant that Kim’s chances at getting another title fight were now very slim. He returned in February next year and won the South Korean lightweight title, however this time needing a split decision to beat a local fighter with a 3-0 record. He was then gone for almost a year before returning on 27 January 2012 and beating the solid Yakubu Amidu by UD 10. On 25 May same year, he faced Alisher Rakhimov of Uzbekistan, who then had a record of 23-0, and was a top boxer. The fight was hard and ugly with plenty of head clashes and Rakhimov landed a low blow in round 8, but Kim managed to swell his right eye up and by round 9 Rakhimov also bled from his mouth. Kim was proclaimed the unanimous winner in the end, with uneven but mostly lopsided scores. He had entered the fight a 2.15/1 betting underdog. He threw no less than 1225 punches in this fight and landed 792. On 6 December, he fought the solid contender Raymundo Beltran and both guys were down in the first round, but Beltran won in the end by wide margin, in a 10 rounder. In 2013, he first dropped another ten round decision to clever Mauricio Herrera at 140, before fighting at 147 in his last fight against Roy Tua Manihuruk of Indonesia, 20 July in Yesan, SK. He easily stopped Manihuruk early in 3rd round by TKO and with that won the WBO Asia Pacific title. Ji-Hoon Kim was 26 when he retired, but an old 26, having fought for nine years and been in some brutal wars. His record is 25 wins, 19 by ko, and 9 losses, 2 by ko. His time on top was short, but exciting, much like some of his best fights. He was a true kill or be killed boxer and simply didn’t play chess, he lost to the smartest guys he faced. He was exciting to watch because he often seemed headed towards a loss but then managed to turn everything around and knock his opponent out. After the Zappavigna loss however, he seemed to have adopted a more disciplined approach, as he won several fights on points. It all makes you wonder what kind of career he would’ve had if he hadn’t started so suddenly.
  4. Probably the greatest unfulfilled talent of this century’s light heavyweights, Tavoris Cloud had a rather successful career and won the IBF title, but will also be remembered as the guy that could have probably achieved even more. Not long after winning the title, he seemed to get lazy and deteriorate as a boxer, needing a disputed decision to retain his title against Gabriel Campillo and finally losing it to the ancient Bernard Hopkins-which in itself was a disappointment. He was not tall for a light heavyweight at 5 foot 10, but was strong and athletic, had the fundamentals and could hit hard enough. Tavoris Karod Cloud was born 10 January 1982 in Tallahassee, Florida and grew up in a rough neighborhood, which led him to start boxing at the age of 14-15, also in order to provide for his family. Alonzo Johnson was his first trainer. As amateur, the young Tavoris competed at the 2002 US championships and got to the final, where he lost to Curtis Stevens. Before that, he also won gold at the 2000 Junior World Championships, at 278 lbs. He also competed at the national Golden Gloves that year, where he lost against Allan Green, a future world title challenger. He finally turned pro in April 2004, aged 22. Early on, he won all his fights by knockout, except against seasoned veteran Reggie Strickland, which went the distance. He went 18-0 with 17 ko’s before fighting Julio Cesar Gonzalez in an IBF eliminator, 8 August 2008, in Chicago. Cloud soundly dominated the faded Mexican former champion and stopped him by TKO 10 after throwing over a thousand punches! This victory paved the way to the fight for the IBF title, which was declared vacant earlier after Chad Dawson relinquished it to fight for the WBC one. On 28 August 2009, at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Tavoris Cloud entered history by defeating the former titleholder Clinton Woods of England by 116-112 on all scorecards. He was now hyped as the new sensation at 175, but it took almost a year before he defended his belt and against the 41-yearold Glen Johnson, who was however still game and coming off an impressive stoppage victory over Yusaf Mack. The fight took place in Saint Louis, 7 August 2010, and Cloud dominated most of it and staggered Johnson once, while Johnson had his moments but was unable to keep up with the much younger champion. Cloud once again won by 116-112 from all judges. His second defense was against former super middleweight contender Fulgencio Zuniga of Colombia, on 17 December in Miami. Cloud had Zuniga down in rounds 5 and 12 but was unable to finish him off and so had to settle for another decision victory. He then finally scored a knockout in his third defense, when he beat the aforementioned Yusaf Mack by TKO 8, 25 June 2011 in Saint Charles. Then came his most controversial fight, when he defended for fourth time against the clever and tricky Spaniard Gabriel Campillo, 18 February 2012 in Corpus Christi. Cloud put the 6’2 Campillo down twice in the first round. The referee gave him an eight count, even though by the Texas rules there are no standing eight counts, so Campillo made it out of the round fine and came back strong. Cloud was cut from a punch in round 4 over the left eye and struggled for the rest of the fight. In the end, one judge had Campillo ahead by 115-110, but the other two favored the champion by 114-112 and 116-110. The decision was very unpopular, as many thought Campillo had won. Instead of a rematch, Cloud made his fifth defense against Bernard Hopkins, who was 48 when they fought on 9 March 2013 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Always known for his dirty tricks, Hopkins cut Cloud over left eye lid with a headbutt judged to be accidental in round 6 and once again later cut him on the right eyelid as well in round 12. In the end, Hopkins won clearly on all scorecards and made history as the oldest light heavyweight champion. This was the beginning of the end for the 31-yearold Cloud. He then made a mistake and accepted another major fight only six months later, fighting against the newly crowned WBC champion Adonis Stevenson of Haiti and Canada. Stevenson, although older at 36, had less fights however and was a deadly puncher. On 28 September at Bell Centre in Montreal, Cloud looked poor and was dismantled in 7 rounds, quitting on his stool after the 7th. He would come back on 27 September 2014, almost exactly a year later, again fighting at Bell Centre, this time against the new prospect and future kingpin of the division: Artur Beterbiev. Cloud was knocked out in 2 rounds by the Chechen puncher after being down thrice late in the first round and then put down again in the start of the second and counted out after 38 seconds. Aged only 32 and after mere 5 years at the elite level, Tavoris Cloud was a spent force. He retired but came back once more as a cruiserweight in 2020 and fought for the last time on 20 November, easily beating the 4-11-1 Ryan Soft by a TKO3. That cemented his record at 25 wins and 3 losses, with 20 knockouts. Why did his career unravel like it did? Well, Tavoris Cloud looked like one of those guys that bought too much into their own hype, maybe. He just seemed less impressive not long after winning the title, but he also probably lacked the boxing IQ to beat someone like Campillo or Hopkins. He definitely was a fighter of physical talents, first and foremost. Whatever the truth, Cloud was for a while one of the biggest and most exciting names at 175. Inactivity also seemed to play a part in his downfall. However, certain big players also entered the division soon after his ascent to the throne and he just wasn’t able to best them, some of his biggest wins coming against older and no longer prime opponents.
  5. His boxing nickname was “Sombrita”(Shadow), because of a large dark birthmark that covered a large part of his face. Juan Albornoz was the best boxer to come from Canary Islands and he won the national title in three different weight classes: lightweight, light welterweight and welterweight. He also won the professional European championship as a light welterweight. He was known for his skill and elegance and movement. Born Juan Cesareo Albornoz Hernandez in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, only the year 1932 is given of his birthdate. He became amateur boxer in 1950 and in 1959, he won the bronze medal at the Mediterranean Games in Beirut. He chose to turn professional in November that year, winning the Canarian lightweight title in his very first fight. He went 12-0 before being upset for the first time by 115-16-13 Fred Galiana, who knocked him out in round 9, 25 December 1960. In 1962, he was also knocked out twice by Valerio Nunez, in 8 and 9 rounds respectively. He then won fifteen fights and drew three, before losing to Jose Cabrera by TKO8 after a bad clash of heads cut him and he refused to continue. He however beat Cabrera in the rematch on points and thus won the Spanish light welterweight title. That was on 7 March 1964. He defended the title twice, both times winning uncharacteristically by knockout, before vacating it to step up and challenge for the European title. That he did on 17 July ‘65 against famous Italian Sandro Lopopolo and became a national hero by winning on points after 15 rounds, in front of home crowd in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. He lost the title in his first defense to German Willy Quatuor, fighting In Germany on 26 December same year, on points. He moved up to welterweight and won the Spanish title there by KO12 against Carmelo Garcia, 24 December 1966 in Las Palmas. However, he soon opted to go back down to light welterweight and vacated the title, instead recapturing the Spanish belt against Antonio Ortiz after stopping him by a TKO9, 22 April 1967. He then challenged the European champion, Johann Orsolics of Austria, and fought him in Vienna on 12 September. After a competitive fight, Albornoz was knocked out in round 11, suffering his sixth loss. They had a rematch on 5 December, again in Vienna, and this time fought to a draw. In one of his last triumphs, he managed to beat the 21-0 Domingo Barrera, the other best Spanish fighter in the division at the time, by decision, 15 June ‘68 in his hometown. He also beat the solid German Conny Rudhof right after that and English Pat Dwyer on Wembley, both on points. On 13 August ‘69, he fought the future WBC champion Bruno Arcari for the European title in San Remo, Italy, and was knocked out in 6 rounds by the younger and world class Arcari. This would prove to be a turning point in his career. He retired for 3 years before coming back in 1973. After winning 3 fights, he fought the young lionnPerico Fernandez on 16 March ‘74 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and got stopped by TKO6. He retired for good after that, aged 42. His record is 79 wins, 20 by ko, with 8 losses and 5 draws. In 1965, after becoming the European champion, he was named the Spanish fighter of the year by the ESPABOX magazine, their equivalent of The Ring. Juan Albornoz died on 17 January 1993, aged 60. He was special as the only boxer with a disfigurement to become relatively famous and successful. Because of that, I thought he deserved a thread of his own. He was very respected for his boxing skills and remains the boxing hero of Tenerife and Canary Islands. Here is a quote I found about him on a fansite: “He was a natural athlete who boxed on the tips of his shoes. He amazed all the fans with his artistry in the ring because of his exquisite technique, skill and style. He stood out for his defense and elegance, chivalry and nobility.”
  6. In Indonesia’s boxing history, two names will always stand out-first one is Ellyas Pical and the second, much more recent one: Chris John. This superb featherweight technician had one of the best and longest world championship reigns in recent history of boxing, holding the WBA belt from 2004 to 2013 and making 17 successful defenses and beating names like Juan Manuel Marquez, Derrick Gainer, Rocky Juarez, Oscar Leon, Ratanachai Sor Vorapin, Daud Cino Yordan and Chonlatarn Piryapinyo. Never a puncher, John could however stop most guys down the stretch if he landed enough punches over longer time. He won 48 fights, only losing 1, and drawing 3. Yohannes Christian John was born on 14 September 1979, in Banjarnegara, the second son of four of Johan Tjahjadi, who is of Chinese descent, and Maria Wersini. In contrast with the majority of Indonesian population, which is Muslim, Chris was raised as a Christian. He started training boxing at 5 years old, trained by his father, once an amateur boxer. His younger brother Adrian did the same. He also trained Wushu, the Chinese martial art, often representing Indonesia in some multi-event competitions. He was the 1997 gold medalist at the South East Asian Games at Wushu and also won the Indonesian multi-events games at it in 1996. He then started focusing on boxing and in 1998 turned pro, trained by renowned Sutan Rambing. He stands 169 cm tall, just under 5’7, and has a reach of 69 inches or 175 cm. Little did anyone know that he would embark on a 15-year unbeaten run and championship glory. His first significant fight came in 2001, when he fought his main national rival, Soleh Sundava, and defeated him by a corner retirement in 6 rounds to win the PABA title. In November 2002, he also scored a decision victory over former world bantamweight champion Ratanachai Sor Vorapin of Thailand. On 26 September 2003, he faced the Colombian Oscar Leon, a top contender, for the interim WBA title. John won by an uneven split decision. On 4 June next year, he became only the fourth Indonesian world champion when he beat Osamu Sato by UD in Tokyo, to lift the full WBA featherweight belt. After a first defense against Jose Rojas ended in a technical draw, in his second defense John took on the former WBA champion, Derrick “Smoke” Gainer, a tall featherweight at 5’9 and a boxer with power. John was down in round one but won pretty much every round after that and was victorious with a lopsided decision. After stopping the Australian Tommy Browne by TKO10 in Australia, he fought his greatest opponent yet in his most controversial fight ever. Juan Manuel Marquez was 44-2-1 when he came to Indonesia to fight, 4 March 2006. It was a competitive fight but Chris seemed to do enough to earn the decision while Marquez seemed to struggle with his style. He was also deducted points in rounds 10 and 11 for repeated low blows. In the end, John was proclaimed the winner by the scores of 116-110, 116-112 and 117-111. Marquez and his team complained and claimed the decision was unfair, however the fight was close and John did do well enough to be given the decision, in my own eyes. In 2007, he had a rematch with Jose Rojas and this time won by UD after putting Rojas down twice. In 2008, he beat the 27-0 Hiroyuki Enoki by a clear UD in Tokyo. On 28 February 2009, he fought for the first time in USA against Rocky Juarez, in his hometown Houston, Texas. In a case of terrible and biased home judging, all three judges scored the fight 114-114 although in reality John won clearly, probably by as much as 4 points. Because of the controversy, there was a rematch on 19 September that year, this time at MGM Grand and this time there was no controversy, as John justly was awarded unanimous victory. His next fight and defense happened after more than a year, on 5 December 2010 in Jakarta, Indonesian capital, where he defeated Argentinian technician Fernando David Saucedo by the scores of 120-108 and 119-109 twice. Next year on 17 April, he had a big domestic showdown against Daud Cino Yordan, who was also a different type fighter, a brawler with power. However, John was able to neutralize that power and outboxed him to win with scores of 117-111 and 116-112 twice. After ending the career of contender Shoji Kimura in May 2012 by another UD, in November he faced the 43-0 Chonlatarn Piryapinyo in Singapore, and once again won clearly on all scorecards. His invincibility finally started to wear down when he faced the very solid Satoshi Hosono on 14 April 2013 and after two rounds, a headbutt ended the fight in the third, as John got badly cut on the forehead. Two judges had it even at the time while the third scored both rounds for John. It would turn out John’s final successful defense, his 17th. His nine year reign would finally be ended by the unlikely man: Simpiwe Vetyeka, a long in the running contender who earlier that year had also stopped Daud Yordan in 12. They fought on 6 December ‘13 in Northbridge, Western Australia, and John looked far from his usual self, being soundly dominated for six rounds and down twice in the fifth and once in the sixth before retiring on his stool. It was a sad farewell to such a career and boxer. Chris John was 34 when he retired, with a record of 48-3-1, scoring 22 knockouts. Immediately after hanging up the gloves, he became a promoter. He is also a motivational speaker now and runs some businesses with his wife, also appearing on Indonesian television sometimes. He is definitely the greatest boxer and altogether sports star to come out of Indonesia yet. His world title reign is only surpassed in the number of defenses by Eusebio Pedroza (19) and in length by Johnny Kilbane (11 years). From 2005 to 2013, he was trained by Craig Christian. As a boxer, he was known under the aliases of “Dragon” and “Indonesian Thin Man”. This was the thread on the fabulous CHRIS JOHN!
  7. One of the best light heavyweights of this century so far is Chad Dawson. This 6’3 southpaw had everything a boxer could ask for-except a big punch. He has had a great career but unfortunately it didn’t end in a good way. A fight against Andre Ward he never should have taken sent him on a downward spiral he could not return from. In his career, he beat Bernard Hopkins, Antonio Tarver (twice), Tomasz Adamek, Glen Johnson (twice), Carl Daniels, Eric Harding and Adrian Diaconu-some of the very best at that time. Only top guy he couldn’t beat in his prime was Jean Pascal. Dawson was born on 13 July 1982 in Hartsville, South Carolina, to Rick Dawson, a former professional boxer with a record of 2-6-1, and his wife Wanda. He has four brothers and two sisters. In 1988, Rick moved his family to New Haven, Connecticut. As amateur, Chad was the 2000 US Under 19 champion, at 165 pounds. He ended his amateur career with a record of 67-13. As a pro, he was first trained by Dan Birmingham and later by various people, including Floyd Mayweather senior and briefly Emmanuel Steward. He made his pro debut on 18 August 2001, managed by Gary Shaw. He won his first fight by a TKO2, first fighting as a middleweight and later moving up to super middleweight. In December 2004, he beat the former WBA super welterweight champion Carl Daniels by TKO7, in a defense of the WBC Youth middleweight title, which he won the previous year. It was in 2005 he became a super middleweight and on 18 November that year he won the WBO NABO title by stopping Ian Gardner by TKO11. He didn’t stay at 168 long however and soon vacated the title to move up to 175. On 2 June 2006, he faced the former Roy Jones Jr challenger and the first guy that beat Antonio Tarver-the lanky and slick Eric Harding. Even though Dawson was down in the first seconds of the fight, he went on to win by a clear UD and thus won the NABF light heavyweight title. This immediately gave him a shot at the WBC title, then held by the Polish puncher and brawler Tomasz Adamek. Adamek had made two defenses and this was his third, on 3 February 2007, in Kissimmee, Florida. Both guys were down once but Dawson won more rounds and was especially dominant in the first half, in the end emerging as the winner on all scorecards and the new WBC champion! First two defenses would prove easy, as he stopped Jesus Ruiz by TKO6 in the first and Epifanio Mendoza by TKO4 in the second, but then he ran into the hardened veteran, Glen “The Road Warrior” Johnson, in the third. That fight was in Tampa, Florida, 12 April 2008 and Bad Chad opened best and outboxed Johnson with his quick combinations working off the ropes, but Johnson came back and gave him a hard fight. Still, despite Johnson’s protests, Dawson looked like the winner and indeed won on all cards. He then vacated the title for unclear reasons sometime midway thru 2008, before fighting the guy who had won the main event on the night he beat Johnson- Antonio “Magic Man” Tarver, who had won the IBF belt from Clinton Woods that night. He already had the IBO belt from before, so Dawson was fighting for two belts when they faced off on 11 October, at Palms Casino in Vegas. Tarver, always known for his cocky and trash talking persona, was very dismissive of Dawson’s chances, but Dawson proved him wrong on fight night and even sent him down once in the last round, after dominating the fight. He won by scores of 117-110 from two judges and 118-109 from the third. On 9 November, the day after Joe Calzaghe beat Roy Jones Jr, Dawson issued a challenge to Calzaghe, but Calzaghe ended up retiring 3 months later. Dawson expressed his admiration for the great Welshman and compared his retirement to that of Rocky Marciano. After Tarver activated the rematch clause, they fought again on 9 May 2009 in Vegas and this time the fight was closer, but still Dawson was clearly better and deservedly won on all scorecards. Only a couple weeks later or so, he vacated the IBF title to give Glen Johnson a rematch, which happened on 7 November that year and this time Dawson was more dominant than in the first fight, even though the scores were closer this time, two of them anyway. He then tried to regain his WBC belt, which was then in the hands of Haitian-Canadian Jean Pascal, a rough and strong brawler. Though shorter by 4 inches, Pascal’s style proved wrong for Dawson when they fought at the Bell Centre in Montreal on 14 August 2010. Dawson was thrown off by Pascal’s aggressive style and even though he had started to come into the fight in the later rounds, in round 11 the fight was stopped after an accidental butt opened a bad cut over Chad’s left eye. All three judges had Pascal ahead, so he was the winner by technical decision and after 29 straight wins, Dawson had tasted defeat. He came back against Romanian contender Adrian Diaconu on 21 May 2011 and won by UD, once again fighting in Montreal, Bell Centre. After Pascal lost the WBC title to ageless Bernard Hopkins, Dawson got to fight Hopkins for it on 15 October, but the fight ended after only 2 rounds when Hopkins seemed to slip after missing with a punch and then landed atop Dawson, who then threw him to the canvas, which then made Hopkins injure his back and that was it. The rematch took place on 28 April 2012 in Atlantic City and this time, Dawson finally recaptured the WBC title after dominating Hopkins and winning by majority decision, one judge controversially scoring it even and the other two 117-111 for Dawson, who was 29 to Hopkins’ 47. Just as everything looked so bright again, Dawson did something he would regret-wanting to prove himself as the p4p king, he accepted the fight against WBC and WBA super middleweight king Andre Ward, who was 25-0 at the time. However, he had problems making the weight, now past the ideal age for moving down, and ended up getting badly dominated. The fight was even in Oakland, Ward’s hometown, 8 September, and Dawson got knocked down three times before getting stopped by TKO in 10. This would prove to be a major turning point in his career. He still had his WBC belt and chose to defend it against the most dangerous new guy in the division, Adonis Stevenson-another Haitian-Canadian. On 8 June 2013 at Bell Centre, Dawson was knocked out in 1 minute and 16 seconds and thus ended his championship and glory days. He moved to cruiser division briefly after that and scored a KO1 against George Blades, but then returned to 175 and disappointingly lost a split decision to Tommy Karpency on 4 October 2014. He claimed he had injured his right arm and that prevented him from throwing it after third round. After beating Dion Savage on points and Cornelius White by TKO4, he fought Andrzej Fonfara on 4 March 2017 and was again stopped by TKO10. His final fight was against Denis Grachev on 11 October 2019 and he won it by UD8. His final record is 36 wins, 19 ko’s, and 5 losses, 3 by ko. Chad Dawson is a case of a great potential ruined by hubris, or excessive pride and confidence in his own abilities. Technically, few could’ve bested him in his prime, but physically, he just wasn’t able to fight at 168 when he lost to Ward. Always big even for a light heavyweight, Dawson had not fought at that weight for 6 years. Bad Chad was not a trashtalker, another reason to like him, and never or seldom made excuses for losing. I remember he gave Pascal credit for beating him, despite the manner of his defeat, which is a true champion’s trademark. Because of his lack of big knockout power, he was also forced to go 12 too much, which is probably a big reason for his early decline. He had the ability and the talent and for a while was the king and was really a pleasure to watch with his superb technique and high workrate.
  8. Despite being a quality boxer, Markus Beyer has won several championship fights under controversial circumstances while fighting at home in Germany under favorable conditions. This rather short (5’9 and a half/177 cm) super middleweight had a very good career but some of his biggest wins have question marks around them. Born 28 April 1971 in Erlabrunn, then a part of East German republic, Beyer was a southpaw who because of his stance often got into head clashes in fights. As amateur, he won the world championship bronze in 1995 in Berlin and a European championship silver in Vejle, Denmark. He also competed at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona as light middleweight but lost in the second fight by first round stoppage to Cuban Juan Carlos Lemus. He finally became a pro in November 1996. In 1999, he first won the IBF Intercontinental super middle title against Juan Carlos Viloria by UD, before fighting the WBC champion Richie Woodhall on 23 October in Telford, England. He put the much taller Woodhall down three times before winning by a rather close but unanimous decision and thus taking his first world title. After one successful defense by KO7 against Leif Kelski, on 6 May 2000 he faced Englishman Glenn Catley in Frankfurt and was stopped by him by 12th round TKO. In April next year, he captured the WBC International title by knocking out Manuel Lopez in 7, which made him qualified to challenge for the WBC belt again. After Catley lost that belt to Dingaan Thobela and eventually Eric Lucas won it, Beyer got to fight Lucas for it on 5 April 2003. Canadian champion had to come to Germany, which was hardly fair, but he did. Despite looking like the winner, Lucas lost by a very controversial decision. In his first defense on 16 August, Beyer took on Australian Danny Green and was down in rounds one and two, but got accidentally butted in the second round. That opened a bad cut on his forehead and in round 5 the fight was stopped after another butt from Green, this time judged to have been intentional. Beyer was proclaimed the winner by DQ, but this judgment was obviously questionable. After one more defense against Andre Thysse by UD, Beyer lost his title in the third one in an upset against Cristian Sanavia, by split decision, 5 June 2004. He reclaimed it on 9 October by KO6 in a rematch. On 12 March 2005, he again faced Danny Green and again there was controversy as Beyer seemed to be given a hometown victory after being down in round 12 and appearing to lose the fight. In his fifth and final successful defense, he again retained his title in a controversial way against Sakio Bika. Bika was dominating before an accidental clash of heads again happened and Beyer once again could not continue after 4 rounds and the verdict was technical draw. He finally lost his last championship match to Mikkel Kessler, where he was brutally dethroned and knocked out in 3 rounds, 14 October 2006 in Copenhagen. Beyer retired in 2008, after winning one more easy fight on points. His record is 35(13)-3-1. Beyer died after a brief illness on 3 December 2018, at only 47. His fellow German former super middleweight champion Graciano Rocchigiani had died only two months prior in a car accident. Bad year for German boxing. Markus Beyer was just treated preferentially too much in big fights, just like his compatriot Sven Ottke. Beyer even stated after winning the WBC belt for the second time that he would never fight Ottke, who then held WBA and IBF belts, because they were good friends. Even if all those controversial wins caused by headbutts were not his fault, being a southpaw and all, it still draws a big question mark around his achievements. Thank you.
  9. Sakio Bika was a world class super middleweight who had a misfortune of fighting in the same era as Joe Calzaghe and Andre Ward. This native of Cameroon gave Calzaghe and Ward tough fights with his very rough and physical fighting style, but ultimately failed to win. He captured the WBC title, holding it for a year, before losing it to then newcomer Anthony Dirrell. Born in Douala, the largest city in Cameroon, on 18 April 1979, he stands 5’11 and a half inch or 182 cm and has a reach of 71 inches or 180 cm. As amateur, Bika competed for his country at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, where he was eliminated in the first round against Scott McIntosh of Canada, 5-8 on points, at light middleweight. After that, he stayed in Sydney and obtained Australian citizenship, before turning professional 15 December 2000, fighting as a middleweight at first. He won his first fight by disqualification against 3-0 Ivan Vakulyuk. After going 10-0 with 7 knockouts, he was upset by Sam Soliman on 15 October 2002, losing by a majority decision in a fight for the IBF Pan Pacific title. Soliman was far more experienced with 22 fights under his belt and a tough, dodgy fighter. He continued winning and in 2005 he switched to super middleweight, winning his first fight there against Juarne Dowling by TKO6. After also knocking out Yoshihiro Araki in 5, he got a fight for the WBC title against champion Markus Beyer of Germany and fought him there on 13 May 2006, but the fight ended too soon after an accidental clash of heads led to Beyer developing a bad cut in round 4. Under WBC rules, the fight was declared a technical draw, despite Bika winning all the rounds on one scorecard. It wasn’t the first time for Beyer that he retained his world title this way. However, Bika got another title fight soon thereafter, this time for three different ones-IBF, WBO and The Ring. His opponent was the best fighter in the division back then and probably of all times: Joe Calzaghe. They faced off on 14 October at Manchester Arena and Bika gave Calzaghe a tough fight, but ultimately lost by too wide scores in a fight that surely was closer. Next year, he was chosen to participate in the third season of The Contender, a boxing reality show. He eventually progressed to the final where he stopped Jaidon Codrington in a great fight in the eight round, after both were down in the first. He got 750 K. He returned to regular boxing in November 2008 against another former The Contender contestant, Peter Manfredo Jr, who had previously been stopped by Calzaghe in 3 rounds. Bika did the same thing by hitting him with several power shots to the head in the third until the referee jumped in. He thus proved his worth, because Manfredo was still a solid fighter and would never be stopped so early again. Also, Calzaghe stoppage was by many thought to have been premature. 31 July 2010 he lost by disqualification in 1 round against Jean-Paul Mendy after hitting Mendy while down. He went on to fight Lucian Bute and get knocked out, while Bika landed a fight against WBA champion and the new great name at 168: Andre Ward. The fight happened on 27 November same year at Mandalay Bay and Bika performed admirably against the super slick Ward, throwing over 600 punches and landing 201, but Ward was just too defensively strong and clever and won in the end by lopsided scores. On 2 June 2012, Bika fought on the undercard of Tarver vs Kayode fight and stopped Dyah Davis by TKO10 to win the NABF and WBO Intercontinental belts. 16 February next year, he defeated the technician Nikola Sjekloca (25-0 at the time) of Serbia to win the WBC eliminator and then on 22 June he fought against 20-0 Marco Antonio Periban of Mexico for the vacant title at Barclays. He was victorious after 12 rounds and FINALLY, after 12 years and four attempts, he was now a world champion! He made his first defense against the 25-0 young Lion Anthony Dirrell, brother of Andre, 7 December that same 2013. After getting floored once in round five, the fight went to the scorecards and Bika retained his title with a split draw. Because of the controversy, they had to fight again and did on 16 August 2014, at SubHub Center in Carson. This time, Bika got a point deducted for a low blow and lost his title by a mostly clear UD. He ventured into his final division, light heavyweight, where he fought the WBC champion Adonis Stevenson, a Jamaican-Canadian puncher, on 4 April 2015 in Quebec City, Canada. The teak tough Bika lasted the distanace but lost by the scores of 111-115, 110-116 and 110-115. He then returned to 168 and won the WBC Asian Continental title by stopping Luke Sharp by TKO7 in Wollongong, Australia, 8 July 2017. On 22 October that year, he also beat the tough Geard Ajetovic, a Serbian based in England, by UD to win the vacant WBC Silver International title. He came back to the ring one more time on 31 March 2021 and avenged his first loss to Sam Soliman by winning by UD8 in Newcastle, Australia. After altogether 20 years and 45 fights, the Cameroonian strongman finally retired at the age of 42 and with a record of 36 wins, 22 by ko, 7 losses and 1 disputed draw. He was known under the alias of THE SCORPION while boxing. Sakio Bika was a rough and tough and strong fighter who always gave it all in the ring and could only be outboxed, not outmuscled or outslugged. He never got stopped and was only knocked down once, against Anthony Dirrell. He was simply a formidable warrior, who loved to rough up his opponents and fight on the inside, but lacked the finesse to win against the most clever fighters. He never stopped trying and in the end succeeded in becoming a world champion, which is of course a great example to young fighters. He can look back at his career with satisfaction and pride.
  10. That Ivan Hernandez fight was weird. First, Too Sharp hurts him in the sixth but can’t finish him off. Then in the seventh, Hernandez produces a big long right out of nowhere to floor Too Sharp and in the eight, they trade wildly and then…you can’t see it well, but it seems he got hit with a body shot while standing against the ropes and that’s it. “Choko” Hernandez then gets ktfo by Montiel in his first defense and loses all his other important fights, making him a “one fight wonder”.
  11. Yeah, his bro may have had a longer and more coveted career but Rafa was FIRE 🔥! True, so true. He destroyed a fine fighter as Too Sharp, still in his good days. Amazing victory and achievement.
  12. Mark Johnson was the first African-American to become a world champion at flyweight and also won world titles at super flyweight and bantamweight, defeating some excellent fighters such as Fernando Montiel, his brother Alejandro, Ratanachai Sor Vorapin, Alberto Jimenez, Francisco Tejedor, Josue Camacho and Arthur Johnson. His career was first derailed by two back to back losses to Rafael Marquez, first one controversial. A native of Washington DC, Johnson was born 13 August 1971, by the name of Marcellus Joseph Johnson. His father Abraham was a boxing coach and started training his son when he was five. Mark grew to be 5’3 (160 cm) tall and had an identical reach. He started competing as amateur and in 1988 he reached the national Olympic finals, losing to Eric Griffin. That year he won the national Golden Gloves and next year also the national ABF championship. He turned pro in February 1990, aged 18. He won his first fight by KO3 but lost the second to Richie Wenton of Liverpool, a four round decision. He then reeled off 12 straight wins, mostly by knockout, before he fought the future WBO flyweight champion, Alberto Jimenez, 17 May 1993 in Inglewood, and beat him by SD12. On 15 July 1995, he beat Josue Camacho, former WBO light flyweight champion, and stopped him by TKO8. That same year, he got arrested for cocaine possession but got released soon, on a suspended sentence. On 4 May 1996, he faced Francisco Tejedor (43-4-1 at the time) for the IBF title at Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim and knocked him out in 1 minute and 35 seconds to become the first African American flyweight world champion. He made seven defenses, among others beating Alejandro Montiel by UD and Arthur Johnson by another KO1. He vacated the belt in April 1999 to compete at super flyweight and then immediately got a chance to win the IBF title there, which was vacant, against Ratanachai Sor Vorapin of Thailand. The fight took place 24 April at MCI Center in Johnson’s hometown DC and after 12 rounds, Too Sharp was proclaimed the winner by the scores of 118-109, 117-110 and 116-110. His reign here would be shorter. He made two defenses only and both ended unusually; first against Jorge Lacierva, the fight went to the scorecards in the ninth round because of a cut and Johnson won clearly on all three. His second defense against Raul Juarez ended after four rounds, after Johnson hit Juarez with a retaliatory low blow and Juarez, who had thrown several low blows before that, could not continue-the result was a no contest. In October of 1999, Johnson was arrested for punching his wife and breaking her jaw. The police also found marijuana on him, which violated his probation, and he did 11 months behind bars and his title was stripped for inactivity in 2000. He came back to the ring on 8 June 2001, now a bantamweight, and beat Sergio Perez by UD10. After also stopping Arturo Valenzuela by TKO6 in July, on 6 October he was matched against a new star on the rise, Rafael Marquez. In a somewhat controversial fight, Johnson looked better in the first half, but also got two points deducted for holding. In the end, he was at first proclaimed the winner by split decision, but then an error was discovered and it turned out Marquez was in fact the winner and Too Sharp lost his first fight since 1990. Because of the controversy, a rematch was issued, this time with the vacant IBF USBA title at stake. It was held on 23 February 2002 at Mandalay Bay and Marquez was more dominant this time, but the fight was competitive going into the end of round 7, when Marquez first dropped Johnson with a straight right, the first knockdown of Too Sharp’s career. He looked hurt and in the next round he looked ok until he got hit with two body shots and then a follow up right to the head which sent him down again. He got up but shortly thereafter he was hit with another hard right and down he went again and referee Rudy Battle waved it off. After such a devastating defeat, few would’ve thought he had much left to give or show, but Too Sharp proved everybody wrong. After a tune up fight in June 2003, he landed a big fight versus the 27-0 Mexican star and WBO super flyweight champion, Fernando Montiel. Montiel had also been a flyweight WBO champion and was a quality fighter, a boxer-puncher. The fight was at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, 16 August 2003, only 3 days after Johnson’s 32nd birthday. He managed to outbox “Cochulito” enough to be given a majority decision and took his zero away. He would make one successful defense by knocking out the 41-1 Luis Bolano of Colombia in just 4 rounds, on 6 March 2004. After winning one non title fight, he lost his title to the 17-0-1 Mexican underdog Ivan Hernandez, who scored a big upset when he put him down twice in round 8 to win by KO. He would have one more fight against then-WBO bantamweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez, but since Too Sharp couldn’t make the weight, that title wasn’t on the line. It happened 25 February 2006 at Mandalay Bay and by now, it was clear Johnson was far from his old self. Gonzalez carried him for 7 rounds and then knocked him out in the 8th. His final record is 44 wins, 28 by ko, 5 losses and 1 no contest. Mark Johnson was famous for his reflexes, speed, power (especially at flyweight), his boxing IQ and willingness to brawl. His career was however hindered by the lack of interest in the fly divisions and also those brushes with the law. He still had longevity and fought for altogether 16 years (almost exactly) and made a big upset against a future great when everybody considered him washed up. In 2012, he was inducted into IBHOF. One might say he also possessed one of the better boxing aliases. He was too sharp but also too smooth.
  13. One of the most talented, charismatic and tragic boxers in history, especially newer time, was Johnny Tapia, whose alias was “Mi Vida Loca”, my crazy life. Tapia was a born fighter and a warrior who became one of the best technical fighters of his generation, who possessed great boxing IQ and abilities, as well as toughness and fighting spirit. His only weakness was lack of greater punching power. He won world titles at super flyweight, bantamweight and featherweight and was a unified champion at the first weight class. Despite all these successes, his life was always marred with addictions and troubles and it contributed to him dying at only 45. John Lee Anthony Tapia was born 13 February 1967 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Mexican American parents. His father vanished while his mother was pregnant with him and his mother was kidnapped and killed when he was eight, forcing his mother’s parents to take care of him. Much later, in 2010, Johnny would meet Jerry Padilla, who turned out to be his biological father and it turned out he had been doing time in jail. He started boxing as amateur, winning the 1983 New Mexico and 1983 and 1985 National Golden Gloves. He became a pro in March 1988, aged 21, and his first fight was a draw. He then started winning and would remain undefeated in 48 fights. In 1989, he beat the future WBA bantam champion, John Michael Johnson, on points in 8 rounds. In 1990, he won the USBA super flyweight title by stopping Roland Gomez by TKO11. Soon after that however, he tested positive for Cocaine and was away from the ring for three years. After returning in 1994, he first won the NABF title in July by TKO3 against overmatched Oscar Aguilar, before fighting for the vacant WBO title against Henry Martinez, who then had a record of 16-1-1. It was on 12 October in Albuquerque that young Johnny finally realized his dream by stopping Martinez by TKO11. He became a very popular champion in his home state and became known for his colorful and brash ring persona. In his third defense, he defeated Arthur Johnson, by MD. Johnson also challenged Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson for his IBF flyweight title. After making ten defenses, he had a unification title fight against the hard hitting Danny Romero Jr, who was his local rival and held the IBF belt. The fight was therefore a great event, but was held at Thomas and Mack Center in Vegas, on 18 July 1997. After 12 rounds, Tapia was proclaimed the winner by scores of 115-113 and 116-112 twice. He was now a unified champion and would make two defenses as such, before vacating both titles to move up to bantamweight. After winning one fight there on points, he was given a crack at the WBA title held by the excellent Nana Yaw Konadu of Ghana. They fought on 5 December 1998 at Convention Center in Atlantic City and Tapia dominated the fight against the 35-yearold champion and was ruled down in the eleventh round, but the scores were closer than the fight had been. Still, two judges had Tapia ahead and one had it even, which meant Tapia was now a three-time, two-weight champion. In 1999, he first scored a KO1 in a non-title fight against clubfighter Alberto Martinez, before making his first defense against the tricky Paulie Ayala, 26 June at Mandalay Bay. In what became the FIGHT OF THE YEAR, Ayala shocked the world by handing the 46-0-2 Tapia his first loss in a close fight, by the scores or 116-113, 115-114 and 116-113 again. He rebounded by beating Jorge Eliecer Julio to win the WBO title by a wide decision on 8 January 2000, at home in Albuquerque. He made one defense of it by UD against Pedro Javier Torres, before signing for a rematch with Ayala. However, it was made at a catchweight of 124 pounds, because Tapia could not make the 118 limit anymore and had to vacate the WBO belt. That fight happened 7 October ‘00 at MGM Grand and, despite looking like the winner in most people’s eyes, Tapia found himself robbed in a very controversial decision which again went to Ayala. Both he and his cornermen were furious and a melee erupted in the ring, forcing the security guards to escort Tapia out by force. After this upsetting incident, Mi Vida Loca came back in March next year as a featherweight and stopped the solid Mexican Cuahtemoc Gomez by RTD6. He also stopped the former WBC champion Cesar Soto by KO3, showing his power had improved at the new weight. In 2002, he first stopped Eduardo Enrique Alvarez by TKO1, fighting in London for the first time, at York Hall in Bethnal Green, 19 January. On 27 April, he would capture his last world title when be beat Manuel Medina (another five-time champion) by a close majority decision at Madison Square Garden. He then vacated that belt in order to fight the greatest boxer he ever would face-the lineal and The Ring champion Marco Antonio Barrera. That fight happened on 2 November at MGM Grand and Barrera, younger by 7 years, turned out to be too much for Johnny and won by a clear unanimous decision, 116-112 and 118-110 twice. That would also be Tapia’s last pivotal or relevant fight. In 2004, he experienced an upset loss against Frankie Archuleta by SD10, but avenged it in 2005, winning by UD10. In September that year however, he got knocked out for the first and only time in 2 rounds by 23-13-2 Sandro Marcos, after getting hit with a big left hook to the body. On 17 January 2007, he held a press conference where he announced he intended to fight once more against Evaristo Primero, on 23 February. It happened and Tapia won by majority decision. However, on 12 March, only 17 days later, he was found unconscious in his hotel room-he had overdosed on cocaine. To make matters even worse, the very next day, his brother in law and nephew were killed in a car accident en route to visit him in the hospital. He eventually recovered and decided to continue boxing and eventually made his ring comeback on 6 March 2010 in Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico, winning by TKO4 against Jorge Alberto Reyes. This bout was fought at super featherweight, while the next on 24 September same year, was for the IBC Americas lightweight title and he once again won by TKO4 against Jose Alonso. His final fight came on 4 June 2011, against former four-weight world champion Mauricio Pastrana of Colombia. Both men were down once before Tapia was proclaimed the winner after 8 rounds, on all cards. It was held in his hometown and was a worthy farewell for this legend. His final record is 59 wins, with 30 ko’s, 5 losses and 2 draws. Sadly, Johnny Tapia died in the early hours of 27 May 2012, only aged 45. Cardiac arrest was the official cause. He left behind a wife, Teresa, and three children. His autobiography titled “Mi Vida Loca: The Crazy Life of Johnny Tapia” was released in 2006 and HBO aired a documentary about his life and career in 2013, simply called “Tapia”. His autobiography starts with him stating “I was born on Friday the 13th, a Friday in February of 1967. To this day I don’t know if it makes me lucky or unlucky”. I think it was both. For all his tragedies and troubles, Johnny gave the boxing world so many entertaining fights and his colorful and charming persona lightened up the screen. His career may have had its lows but with a record of 17-1-1 in world title fights, 13 defenses as flyweight champion and five world titles in three different divisions-he has accomplished A LOT. In 2017, he was posthumously inducted into the IBHOF. Thus, one can say…he really belongs among the stars.
  14. Manny Pac? Dunno…not really feeling into that right now.
  15. A correction-the Maccarinelli fight was for the WBO INTERCONTINENTAL title.
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