BoxRec

From fightnews

Boxing legend Johnny Tapia was unconscious at an Albuquerque hospital Monday morning after apparently overdosing on cocaine in a hotel room, stated police reports. Tapia's wife, Teresa Tapia, called police at about 4:30 a.m. from the Country Inn and Suites on Pan American Freeway Northeast and said Tapia was having trouble breathing. Firefighters found the former world champ unconscious. He was taken to University of New Mexico Hospital, where he was still unconscious at 10:30 this morning, stated police Albuquerque spokeswoman Trish Hoffman.


There's no way he's going to make it without boxing is there?
:(

no chance.

Looks as if its going to be a long way back if he's going to get his life back on track, without boxing he seems lost

about the 4th time he has been found KO'd by charlie...

Sad story really.

After awhile you just stop caring about someone who does this to themself.

Couldn't agree less mate. Get well soon Johnny T. Am praying for you little man.

Tapias Mother was raped and murdered when he was 8 years old.
She was kidnapped right in front of him.
Tied up and dragged out of the home.
After that I would imagine he didnt really care about his own life.
The whole thing is sad .
Her murder was never solved.

TheGoods wrote:Couldn't agree less mate. Get well soon Johnny T. Am praying for you little man.

You misunderstand. I don't wish ill on him, but after a while, it just becomes standard and the sorry feeling goes away.

Mattyp151 wrote:

TheGoods wrote:Couldn't agree less mate. Get well soon Johnny T. Am praying for you little man.

You misunderstand. I don't wish ill on him, but after a while, it just becomes standard and the sorry feeling goes away.

Germans, full of spite!

No offence intended to real Germans.

Mattyp151 wrote:

TheGoods wrote:Couldn't agree less mate. Get well soon Johnny T. Am praying for you little man.

You misunderstand. I don't wish ill on him, but after a while, it just becomes standard and the sorry feeling goes away.

Ignorant and spiteful post. JT has a severely self destructive streak borne out his life.

He is essentially ill and needs some help not holier than thou logic like this.

I wish Johnny and his family all the best wishes, no matter how many times I hear these things I always feel for Tapia, I have a lot of respect for Johnny. I was lucky in having the pleasure in interviewing Johnny when he was the IBF Featherweight champ and nothing was too much trouble for Johnny and Teresa Tapia, even more lucky to have later met them both.

I have my signed photo from Tapia to me on my wall and I got to meet him in Scotland at the Harrison McCullough fight and I also met Teresa, as soon as I said who I was they knew me straight away from my interview and dealings with them. It was an amazing moment, Johnny put his arms around me and I talked to him for a good while along with Teresa, I did not even know that he was going to be there

Johnnys a true gentleman and would help anyone out who's life holds the same demons as his own.

Now Johnnys demons have returned he needs all the help and support he can get, asides his strong wife Teresa his biggest help in life was boxing, now he's retired from the sport he'll need more surport than ever.

He was a colourful and skilled World Champion, I hope he can come over this latest hurdle in his life now his boxing chapter has closed.

Keep your chin up Johnny for this next fight

E wrote:

Mattyp151 wrote:

TheGoods wrote:Couldn't agree less mate. Get well soon Johnny T. Am praying for you little man.

You misunderstand. I don't wish ill on him, but after a while, it just becomes standard and the sorry feeling goes away.

Ignorant and spiteful post. JT has a severely self destructive streak borne out his life.

He is essentially ill and needs some help not holier than thou logic like this.

It's always society's fault, huh?

E wrote:

Mattyp151 wrote:

TheGoods wrote:Couldn't agree less mate. Get well soon Johnny T. Am praying for you little man.

You misunderstand. I don't wish ill on him, but after a while, it just becomes standard and the sorry feeling goes away.

Ignorant and spiteful post. JT has a severely self destructive streak borne out his life.

He is essentially ill and needs some help not holier than thou logic like this.

rubbish, no one has forced tapia to take drugs. its all too similar to the scott harisson scenario...we do get tired of hearing about it.

tapia has more right than most to be depressed, but drugs are not an excuse for anything.

Regardless whose to blame, I still feel sorry for him. I hope he gets better.

Mattyp151 wrote:

E wrote:

Mattyp151 wrote: You misunderstand. I don't wish ill on him, but after a while, it just becomes standard and the sorry feeling goes away.

Ignorant and spiteful post. JT has a severely self destructive streak borne out his life.

He is essentially ill and needs some help not holier than thou logic like this.

It's always society's fault, huh?

Nein mein Fuhrer - I am not blaming society. I am pointing out that this kind of self-destructive behaviour is very complex and for those who have not experienced it hard to undertsand.

Essentially it can be viewed as a slow form of suicide if you want.

There are posters saying 'noone is forcing him to shove coke up his nose'...... yes but Noone 'forces' anyone to become an alcoholic. no one forces anyone to commit suicide by hanging/blowing their head off/pills overdose etc...

But you would have to be pretty heartless not to feel for these people.

Repeatedly walking the line between dangerous living and a 'normal' life is a symptom of something deeply psychologically unhappy. It is almost like having a deathwish.

Johnny Tapia is an emotional, disturbed (and understandably so) individual, who may never find a comfortable place or living out of boxing and struggles daily.

He is not a violent criminal, he is not attacking, mugging, stealing etc - the only person he is harming is himself.

expug wrote:Tapias Mother was raped and murdered when he was 8 years old.
She was kidnapped right in front of him.
Tied up and dragged out of the home.
After that I would imagine he didnt really care about his own life.
The whole thing is sad .
Her murder was never solved.

Her murder was solved, however, it was only done after the body of a man was found and dna taken to identify him. the guy had been run over, when police took samples of his DNA they matched up with the DNA of the individual that had killed his mother.

God there's some holier than crap stuff being spouted here.

It's clear Tapia is a deeply disturbed individual, and it's no wonder given what he experienced in his early life.

At the end of the day, he's not a danger to anyone but himself, so why lambast the man. It's unlikely that he is going to be able to be helped this far down the line, his problems run so deep. The fact he is doing so much that he is on the verge of death would suggest it's not recreation but termination he is seeking, you have to do one hell of a lot of coke to kill yourself, and he has come close several times.

Tapia was a remarkable fighter at his best, even more remarkable given his propensity to abuse himself between fights.

Let's hope someone can stop him before he kills himself.

I had the pleasure of spending a few weeks with Tapia when he was in london.

The guy is so unassuming, down to earth, DAMN nice guy... Its terrible to hear about these recurring problems.

Lets hope he can get involved in boxing in another way to keep him on the straight and narrow

Anyone who cant understand what Tapia is going through every day needs to read his biography, the bottom line is that part of him will always be wanting to end it all because of the terrible things that he has seen and had done to him, ...its very easy to moralise when your not in the other persons shoes... I wish him the best and hope he can find some peace in his life... keep fighting johnny...

The latest update says that Johnny is expected to make a full recovery.... on the downside it seems he's going to be charged with possession.... though maybe the best thing that could happen to him now is if he was forced to enter some kind of rehabilitation program, though he's no doubt done it all before....

get well soon Mr T,

Could he not get into coaching or something? to keep him around the game?

He said after his last fight that he wanted to get into training fighters, lets hope that he's able to do that... with his background and experience he could help a lot of kids keep out of trouble and make something of themselves...

He's got to get himself clean before even considering his next move, unfortunatly drugs are so easy to get in the US, plus he's known and he has money. Drug dealers don't care about who their selling to, and he's an easy score.

More worrying for Tapia as well , is that he will now have no income from boxing, and drugs can rip through your bank account in no time.
Re-Hab is an option, but he has to want to give it up, if that desire isn't there , then he won't be able to resist.

His early life was awful, some of the things he's been through are horrific, but he has also had huge support in is adult life, and had alot of chances to turn his life around. More than most people would get.

I hope he gets himself clean and well, not for his fans , but for himself.

Someone like Tapia is probably best served if they can get clean and then become a drugs counsellor, or work with young people in boxing, they need something to pour their energies into.

It must be terrible being afflicted with that kind of addictive personality.