Johnny Tapia
"Mi Vida Loca"
- Born
- 1967
- Died
- 2012
- Nationality
- USA
- Career
- 1988–2011
An Albuquerque-born three-division champion, Tapia combined fast combinations with an aggressive style. His first fight with Paulie Ayala was The Ring’s 1999 Fight of the Year.
Titles & Honours
- IBF & WBO Super Flyweight Champion
- WBA & WBO Bantamweight Champion
- IBF Featherweight Champion
Career Timeline
1988–2011- Milestone
First recorded professional bout
vs Efren Chavez · D MD
- Milestone
25th recorded win
vs Rafael Granillo · TKO. Newspaper decisions excluded.
- Milestone
50th recorded win
vs César Soto · KO. Newspaper decisions excluded.
- Signature fight
vs Manuel Medina
W MD12 Manuel Medina (2002) · Madison Square Garden , New York City, New York , U.S.
- Signature fight
vs Marco Antonio Barrera
L UD12 Marco Antonio Barrera (2002) · MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
- Signature fight
vs Jose Alonso
W TKO4 Jose Alonso (2010) · Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.
- Milestone
Latest recorded bout
vs Mauricio Pastrana · W UD. Not necessarily the retirement date.
Title wins · dates not yet documented
Derived from the current archive and profile honours. Title-reign years are not exact bout dates; title claims are not independently verified. Signature fights use existing profile selections, or clearly labelled wins over other archived fighters when no selections exist. Year-only dates retain their original precision.
Photo Archive
No freely licensed photographs of Johnny Tapia are available in this archive.
Fight-by-Fight Record
| Date | Result | Opponent | Method | Round | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988-03-28 | D | Efren Chavez | MD | 4 | Marriott Hotel, Irvine, California , U.S. |
| 1988-04-11 | W | James Dean | UD | 6 | Centre Plaza Holiday Inn, Fresno, California , U.S. |
| 1988-05-16 | W | Norberto Ayala | KO | 4 | Centre Plaza Holiday Inn, Fresno, California, U.S. |
| 1988-06-30 | W | Martin Perez Ramirez | TKO | 1 | Marriott Hotel, Irvine, California, U.S. |
| 1988-09-16 | W | Miguel Martinez | KO | 1 | Caesars Palace , Paradise, Nevada , U.S. |
| 1988-09-29 | W | Manuel Martinez | KO | 1 | Marriott Hotel, Irvine, California, U.S. |
| 1988-10-14 | W | Jorge Salinas | TKO | 1 | Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. |
| 1988-12-01 | W | Simon Contreras | UD | 8 | Marriott Hotel, Irvine, California, U.S. |
| 1989-02-17 | W | Abner Barajas | TKO | 2 | State Fair Pavilion , Albuquerque, New Mexico , U.S. |
| 1989-03-23 | W | Fred Hernandez | UD | 8 | Marriott Hotel, Irvine, California, U.S. |
| 1989-06-17 | W | Josefino Suarez | UD | 8 | Tingley Coliseum , Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| 1989-08-19 | W | Hugo Partida | KO | 2 | State Fairgrounds , Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| 1989-10-17 | W | John Michael Johnson | UD | 8 | State Fair , Phoenix, Arizona , U.S. |
| 1989-11-17 | W | Prudencio De Jesus | TKO | 1 | Convention Center , Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. |
| 1989-12-01 | W | Martin Perez Ramirez | UD | 8 | Hacienda , Paradise, Nevada, U.S. |
| 1990-02-16 | W | Jesus Chong | UD | 8 | Hacienda, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. |
| 1990-03-16 | W | Abraham Garcia | TKO | 1 | Convention Center, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. |
| 1990-05-10 | W | Roland Gomez | TKO | 11 | Harrah's Lake Tahoe , Stateline, Nevada , U.S. |
| 1990-06-21 | W | Pablo Valenzuela | KO | 5 | La Mancha Athletic Club, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. |
| 1990-07-27 | W | Jose Montiel | TKO | 9 | Bally's Las Vegas , Paradise, Nevada, U.S. |
| 1990-09-20 | W | Luigi Camputaro | UD | 12 | Bally's Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. |
| 1990-10-26 | W | Santiago Caballero | TD | 7 | Bally's Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. |
| 1994-03-27 | W | Jaime Olvera | KO | 4 | Expo Square Pavilion , Tulsa, Oklahoma , U.S. |
| 1994-04-15 | W | Arturo Estrada | TKO | 2 | Kiva Auditorium , Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| 1994-05-05 | W | Antonio Ruiz | UD | 10 | Grand Olympic Auditorium , Los Angeles, California , U.S. |
| 1994-06-24 | W | Rafael Granillo | TKO | 9 | Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| 1994-07-15 | W | Oscar Aguilar | TKO | 3 | America West Arena , Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. |
| 1994-10-12 | W | Henry Martínez | TKO | 11 | The Pit , Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| 1994-12-08 | W | Rolando Bohol | KO | 2 | Convention Center , Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| 1995-02-10 | W | Jose Rafael Sosa | UD | 12 | The Pit, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| 1995-05-06 | D | Ricardo Vargas | TD | 8 | Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. |
| 1995-07-02 | W | Arthur Johnson | MD | 12 | Johnson Gymnasium , Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| 1995-09-09 | W | Jesse Miranda | UD | 10 | Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. |
| 1995-10-19 | W | Raul Rios | UD | 10 | Boulder Station Hotel Casino , Sunrise Manor, Nevada , U.S. |
| 1995-12-01 | W | Willy Salazar | RTD | 9 | Fantasy Springs Resort Casino , Indio, California , U.S. |
| 1996-02-03 | W | Giovanni Andrade | TKO | 2 | Great Western Forum , Inglewood, California , U.S. |
| 1996-04-30 | W | Ramon Gonzales | TKO | 2 | San Antonio, Texas , U.S. |
| 1996-06-07 | W | Ivan Alvarez | TKO | 8 | Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. |
| 1996-08-17 | W | Hugo Rafael Soto | UD | 12 | Sports Stadium , Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| 1996-10-11 | W | Sammy Stewart | TKO | 7 | Texas Station , North Las Vegas, Nevada , U.S. |
| 1996-11-30 | W | Adonis Cruz | UD | 12 | Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| 1997-03-08 | W | Jorge Barrera | TKO | 3 | Convention Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| 1997-07-18 | W | Danny Romero | UD | 12 | Thomas & Mack Center , Paradise, Nevada, U.S. |
| 1997-12-13 | W | Andy Agosto | UD | 12 | Amphitheater, Pompano Beach, Florida , U.S. |
| 1998-02-13 | W | Rodolfo Blanco | UD | 12 | The Pit, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| 1998-08-29 | W | Carlos Francis Hernandez | UD | 10 | Las Vegas Hilton , Winchester, Nevada , U.S. |
| 1998-12-05 | W | Nana Konadu | MD | 12 | Convention Hall , Atlantic City, New Jersey , U.S. |
| 1999-04-24 | W | Alberto Martinez | KO | 1 | Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| 1999-06-26 | L | Paulie Ayala | UD | 12 | Mandalay Bay Events Center , Paradise, Nevada, U.S. |
| 2000-01-08 | W | Jorge Eliécer Julio | UD | 12 | The Pit, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| 2000-05-06 | W | Pedro Javier Torres | UD | 12 | Pan American Center , Las Cruces, New Mexico , U.S. |
| 2000-10-07 | L | Paulie Ayala | UD | 12 | MGM Grand Garden Arena , Paradise, Nevada, U.S. |
| 2001-03-17 | W | Cuauhtemoc Gomez | RTD | 6 | Convention Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| 2001-06-30 | W | César Soto | KO | 3 | Mandalay Bay Events Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. |
| 2002-01-19 | W | Eduardo Enrique Alvarez | TKO | 1 | York Hall , London , England |
| 2002-04-27 | W | Manuel Medina | MD | 12 | Madison Square Garden , New York City, New York , U.S. |
| 2002-11-02 | L | Marco Antonio Barrera | UD | 12 | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. |
| 2003-09-26 | W | Carlos Contreras | UD | 10 | Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| 2004-03-05 | L | Frankie Archuleta | SD | 10 | Highlands University , Las Vegas, New Mexico , U.S. |
| 2005-01-22 | W | Nicky Bentz | SD | 10 | Dodge Arena , Hidalgo, Texas , U.S. |
| 2005-04-15 | W | Frankie Archuleta | UD | 10 | Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| 2005-09-16 | L | Sandro Marcos | KO | 2 | Aragon Ballroom , Chicago, Illinois , U.S. |
| 2007-02-23 | W | Evaristo Primero | MD | 10 | Isleta Resort & Casino, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| 2010-03-06 | W | Jorge Alberto Reyes | TKO | 4 | Hotel Casino, Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico , U.S. |
| 2010-09-24 | W | Jose Alonso | TKO | 4 | Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| 2011-06-04 | W | Mauricio Pastrana | UD | 8 | Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
Showing 66 of 66 recorded fights · last updated 2026-10-17. Imported record tables are not independently verified and may be incomplete. Early-era logs include newspaper decisions (NWS), which are not counted in the official totals above.
Record notes
Fight record last retrieved: 2026-10-17. Title histories remain subject to archival review.
Historical-era totals differ between record-keeping conventions (newspaper decisions, exhibitions).
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