April 27, 2002) New York, NY. (The Theater at MSG)
Don't try and convince veteran trainer Romula Quirarte Sr. about fair play and justice in boxing.
One week ago Quirarte was working the corner when his man Jose Luis Castillo lost a controversial decision and his WBC lightweight crown to Floyd Mayweather. Quirarte was in the corner again as IBF featherweight king Manuel Medina came up on the short end after out hustling Johnny Tapia.
Despite landing more shots repeatedly throughout the bout, Medina lost a majority decision to the popular New Mexico fighter. The victory marked Tapia third championship in three different weight classes.
Judge George Conlon scored the bout, 115-113, while Tony Paolillo had it, 115-113, both in favor of Tapia. Judge Melvina Lathan scored the contest, 114-114, a draw. As soon as the decision was announced to the 3,859 fans in attendance, the disgusted Medina who was concerned about poor judging coming into the fight, quickly left the ring.
The BT scorecard had Medina retaining his title by a 115-113 margin.
"He's skillful, got a lot of experience, as a boxer he was hard to catch," Tapia said after the victory. "So I ended up trying to cut the ring and catch him. It was very, very close."
--Bad Luck--
Medina (60-12, 27 KO's) opened the scoring quickly in first round and drilled Tapia (52-2-2, 28 KO's) with a solid left hook to the belly at the 2:31 mark. Medina (126) has never been known for his power but his awkward style presented a number of problems and he was able to move and keep his gloves in Tapia's (125 ?) face. With 1:35 to go in the 1st, the champion caught Tapia, 35, with a straight right cross to the head and seconds later, followed up with another solid right. The challenger was able to cut the distance against the elusive champion and with 1:13 to go in the 1st, Tapia caught Medina, 31, with an overhand right and a sharp left hook. Tapia, Albuquerque, NM, remained on target and drilled Medina with another hard hook to the body.
At the 2:29 mark of the 2nd, Medina, Tijuana, Mexico, stepped inside and drilled the challenger with a sharp body shot. However, Tapia immediately returned fire with a solid left hand. Both men traded punches in the second round but the edge in power went to Tapia against the circling champion.
Medina continued to move, retreat, flurry, and then hit reverse gear as Tapia pursued him around the ring in the third round. With 1:35 to go in the 3rd, Medina clocked the challenger with a crisp left hook and a stinging right cross. Tapia connected with a chopping right hand in close quarters but by late in the round he was breathing hard and struggling to catch up with Medina. With less than 10-seconds remaining in the 3rd, Medina planted his feet and then drilled Tapia with a hard lead right hand to the mouth.
--Chasing a Ghost--
Tapia struggled to find his rhythm throughout the middle rounds as Medina continued to change directions, stop, fire, and score. At the 2:39 mark of the 5th, Medina caught Tapia coming in with a riveting right uppercut to the chin. However, with 1:53 to go in the round, Tapia trapped the champion long enough to score with a sharp right hand to the face that drew blood from Medina's nose. Feinting and moving, Medina returned the favor and nailed Tapia with a series of lead right hands to the head. The champion flurried over the last ten seconds of the 5th, and Tapia returned to his corner with blood trickling from his nostrils.
Tapia was able to land the harder blows but his punch output continued to decline as the fight wore on and he was only able to throw one shot at a time. Medina, however, never eased off the throttle and he was able to score from different angles while continuing to circle and let his hands go.
--Tough Guys--
At the 2:07 mark of the 9th, Medina drilled the challenger with a hard counter right hand to the head. Nevertheless, Tapia kept throwing leather and with 1:05 to go in the round, he scored with a strong left hook to Medina's midsection. The challenger picked up the pace in the 10th, and caught Media with a series of digging body shots. With 1:40 to go in the round, Tapia connected with a solid right hand to the head and seconds later he scored again with another rugged right. The champion returned fire and Medina forced Tapia to retreat late in the 10th following a quick volley of light hitting but effective blows.
By the start of the eleventh round, Tapia's face looked like he had stuck his head into a hornet's nest. There were a series of welts, scrapes, and abrasions over and around his left eye, his forehead, and across the bridge of his nose. Medina returned to moving and throwing quick combinations for the remainder of the fight.
Tapia kept firing the heavier shots and at 1:14 of the 11th, he caught the champion with a clubbing left hook to the head. With under a minute remaining in the round, Tapia was able to catch up to the elusive champion with a digging left hook to the body.
The fighters embraced before the final round and then went back to trading leather. At the 2:14 mark of the 12th, Medina scored with a quick combination to the face. Tapia attempted to apply pressure but the champion kept beating him to the punch. With 1:12 to go in the final round, Median scored with a hard right hand on the inside. Moments later, Media was on target again and nailed Tapia leaning in with a crisp three-punch combination. Both fighters exchanged leather over the final few seconds until the bell and then once again congratulated each other for their efforts.
Medina raised his gloves in triumph and vaulted atop the corner ropes, while across the ring Tapia was held aloft by his cornermen.
As soon as the decision was announced giving the win and the IBF title to Tapia, the stone faced Medina slipped under the ropes and retreated to his dressing room. His trainer Romula Quirarte Sr. could only shake his head in dismay. Once again boxing had momentarily broken his heart. And justice was just a word in the dictionary.
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APRIL 27 - NEW YORK - JOHNNY TAPIA W 12 MANUEL MEDINA - Not a good week for our padres south of the border. Last week in Las Vegas, Jose Luis Castillo got jobbed vs. Floyd Mayweather and should have kept his lightweight belt after landing 10 more power shots per round than "Pretty Boy" and 46% of his overall punches to 35% for Floyd. This Saturday, at The Theater inside Madison Square Garden, as Sir Paul McCartney played the big room, Medina played a tune on Tapia in at least 8 of the 12 rounds. Medina threw a featherweight record (and #6 all time) 1466 total punches (his broke his own featherweight record of 1394 thrown, vs. another loss, vs. Paul Ingle in 1999). Medina won the fight with the jab- he threw an all-time CompuBox record 1005 jabs, breaking Ray Oliveira1s previous record of 767 jabs thrown vs. Ben Tackie. Tapia kept coming forward all night, although Medina got off twice as many punches as Johnny, who landed 193 of the 722 he threw (27%). Medina outlanded Tapia 128- 40 in the jab department. Power punches read: Medina 145 of 461 (32%) to Tapia1s 153 of 409 (37%).
Don't try and convince veteran trainer Romula Quirarte Sr. about fair play and justice in boxing.
One week ago Quirarte was working the corner when his man Jose Luis Castillo lost a controversial decision and his WBC lightweight crown to Floyd Mayweather. Quirarte was in the corner again as IBF featherweight king Manuel Medina came up on the short end after out hustling Johnny Tapia.
Despite landing more shots repeatedly throughout the bout, Medina lost a majority decision to the popular New Mexico fighter. The victory marked Tapia third championship in three different weight classes.
Judge George Conlon scored the bout, 115-113, while Tony Paolillo had it, 115-113, both in favor of Tapia. Judge Melvina Lathan scored the contest, 114-114, a draw. As soon as the decision was announced to the 3,859 fans in attendance, the disgusted Medina who was concerned about poor judging coming into the fight, quickly left the ring.
The BT scorecard had Medina retaining his title by a 115-113 margin.
"He's skillful, got a lot of experience, as a boxer he was hard to catch," Tapia said after the victory. "So I ended up trying to cut the ring and catch him. It was very, very close."
--Bad Luck--
Medina (60-12, 27 KO's) opened the scoring quickly in first round and drilled Tapia (52-2-2, 28 KO's) with a solid left hook to the belly at the 2:31 mark. Medina (126) has never been known for his power but his awkward style presented a number of problems and he was able to move and keep his gloves in Tapia's (125 ?) face. With 1:35 to go in the 1st, the champion caught Tapia, 35, with a straight right cross to the head and seconds later, followed up with another solid right. The challenger was able to cut the distance against the elusive champion and with 1:13 to go in the 1st, Tapia caught Medina, 31, with an overhand right and a sharp left hook. Tapia, Albuquerque, NM, remained on target and drilled Medina with another hard hook to the body.
At the 2:29 mark of the 2nd, Medina, Tijuana, Mexico, stepped inside and drilled the challenger with a sharp body shot. However, Tapia immediately returned fire with a solid left hand. Both men traded punches in the second round but the edge in power went to Tapia against the circling champion.
Medina continued to move, retreat, flurry, and then hit reverse gear as Tapia pursued him around the ring in the third round. With 1:35 to go in the 3rd, Medina clocked the challenger with a crisp left hook and a stinging right cross. Tapia connected with a chopping right hand in close quarters but by late in the round he was breathing hard and struggling to catch up with Medina. With less than 10-seconds remaining in the 3rd, Medina planted his feet and then drilled Tapia with a hard lead right hand to the mouth.
--Chasing a Ghost--
Tapia struggled to find his rhythm throughout the middle rounds as Medina continued to change directions, stop, fire, and score. At the 2:39 mark of the 5th, Medina caught Tapia coming in with a riveting right uppercut to the chin. However, with 1:53 to go in the round, Tapia trapped the champion long enough to score with a sharp right hand to the face that drew blood from Medina's nose. Feinting and moving, Medina returned the favor and nailed Tapia with a series of lead right hands to the head. The champion flurried over the last ten seconds of the 5th, and Tapia returned to his corner with blood trickling from his nostrils.
Tapia was able to land the harder blows but his punch output continued to decline as the fight wore on and he was only able to throw one shot at a time. Medina, however, never eased off the throttle and he was able to score from different angles while continuing to circle and let his hands go.
--Tough Guys--
At the 2:07 mark of the 9th, Medina drilled the challenger with a hard counter right hand to the head. Nevertheless, Tapia kept throwing leather and with 1:05 to go in the round, he scored with a strong left hook to Medina's midsection. The challenger picked up the pace in the 10th, and caught Media with a series of digging body shots. With 1:40 to go in the round, Tapia connected with a solid right hand to the head and seconds later he scored again with another rugged right. The champion returned fire and Medina forced Tapia to retreat late in the 10th following a quick volley of light hitting but effective blows.
By the start of the eleventh round, Tapia's face looked like he had stuck his head into a hornet's nest. There were a series of welts, scrapes, and abrasions over and around his left eye, his forehead, and across the bridge of his nose. Medina returned to moving and throwing quick combinations for the remainder of the fight.
Tapia kept firing the heavier shots and at 1:14 of the 11th, he caught the champion with a clubbing left hook to the head. With under a minute remaining in the round, Tapia was able to catch up to the elusive champion with a digging left hook to the body.
The fighters embraced before the final round and then went back to trading leather. At the 2:14 mark of the 12th, Medina scored with a quick combination to the face. Tapia attempted to apply pressure but the champion kept beating him to the punch. With 1:12 to go in the final round, Median scored with a hard right hand on the inside. Moments later, Media was on target again and nailed Tapia leaning in with a crisp three-punch combination. Both fighters exchanged leather over the final few seconds until the bell and then once again congratulated each other for their efforts.
Medina raised his gloves in triumph and vaulted atop the corner ropes, while across the ring Tapia was held aloft by his cornermen.
As soon as the decision was announced giving the win and the IBF title to Tapia, the stone faced Medina slipped under the ropes and retreated to his dressing room. His trainer Romula Quirarte Sr. could only shake his head in dismay. Once again boxing had momentarily broken his heart. And justice was just a word in the dictionary.
-------------------------------------
APRIL 27 - NEW YORK - JOHNNY TAPIA W 12 MANUEL MEDINA - Not a good week for our padres south of the border. Last week in Las Vegas, Jose Luis Castillo got jobbed vs. Floyd Mayweather and should have kept his lightweight belt after landing 10 more power shots per round than "Pretty Boy" and 46% of his overall punches to 35% for Floyd. This Saturday, at The Theater inside Madison Square Garden, as Sir Paul McCartney played the big room, Medina played a tune on Tapia in at least 8 of the 12 rounds. Medina threw a featherweight record (and #6 all time) 1466 total punches (his broke his own featherweight record of 1394 thrown, vs. another loss, vs. Paul Ingle in 1999). Medina won the fight with the jab- he threw an all-time CompuBox record 1005 jabs, breaking Ray Oliveira1s previous record of 767 jabs thrown vs. Ben Tackie. Tapia kept coming forward all night, although Medina got off twice as many punches as Johnny, who landed 193 of the 722 he threw (27%). Medina outlanded Tapia 128- 40 in the jab department. Power punches read: Medina 145 of 461 (32%) to Tapia1s 153 of 409 (37%).
Wasn't sure if you were serious.
