Washington Post

5-time world boxing champion Johnny Tapia found dead in home:

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M – Johnny Tapia, the five-time boxing champion whose turbulent career was marked by cocaine addiction, alcohol, depression and run-ins with the law, was found dead Sunday at his Albuquerque home. He was 45.

It gets pretty lonely on the top especially after all the spot lights go out.  When all of the fanfare connected with being a world champion was gone Tapia was left all alone to try to deal with all of the ghosts they have hidden away.

Tapia had a very rough beginning in his life and the devil seemed to follow him wherever he went. . When he was 8 years old his mother was stabbed 26 times with a screw driver as a result left Johnny an orphan at a young age.

I am sure that growing up with that grim memory of his mothers death had a huge effect on him later in life.

Tapa a five time world champion in three weight classes, WBA bantamweight, IBF , WBO junior bantamweight titles and the IBF featherweight belt was always consider the underdog and the “peoples” fighter”; this worked for Johnny in a positive way. His tenacity and brutal style of fighting earned his the nickname “Burque’s Best”. He came from the old school of fighters that “didn’t stop until they dropped”.

Cocaine and depression were Tapia’s eventual down fall. He was hospitalized several times for his addiction. On one of the occasions his brother in-law and nephew were on their way to visit the champ in the hospital and they were both killed in an auto accident. Just another straw that eventually broke the camel’s back.

I am sure with all of the blows he took to his head, along with the tragedies in his life they were all too much of a heavy load for the boxer to cope with.

Tapia who is very well respected by everyone he fought will be remembered by all of his fans for the warrior’s heart he brawled with.

R.I.P.