“Mi Vida Loca,” meaning “My Crazy Life”: a nickname quite fitting for the colorful American champion of Mexican descent Johnny Tapia, who despite leading a life filled with excesses, managed to dispense emotions, thrills, and unforgettable fights in the ring. Like other boxing legends, however, he also encountered on his path a black beast, capable of derailing a seemingly unstoppable train: the formidable southpaw Paulie Ayala, himself born in the USA with Mexican blood in his veins. Exactly 25 years from their first encounter, which saw Ayala prevail by unanimous decision of the judges, as it would happen again in the rematch, let’s revisit the stages of a rivalry capable of inflaming the passions of fans of the time.
From expected mismatch to Fight of The Year: the roots of the first incredible fight
The first chapter that saw the two protagonists of our story face off was not expected the night before as a must-see classic. This underestimation of the show that the spectators at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas would admire was due to the different status with which the two athletes approached the big event. Tapia was indeed a renowned international star having shone in the super flyweight division with thirteen title defenses for the WBO championship, including a unification fight that had also bestowed upon him the IBF belt. The subsequent move to the bantamweight division, marked by the immediate conquest of the WBA title in that category, had certified his greatness, prompting bookmakers to heavily favor him for the first defense in the new weight class. After all, Ayala showed up for the big appointment without ever having been a world champion and having failed in the only chance he received in his career, being defeated by technical decision by the not-so-irresistible Japanese boxer Joichiro Tatsuyoshi. A decorated champion used to the top was thus opposed to an athlete whose only laurel had been the North American title: understandably, a mismatch was expected.
The no-holds-barred war of June ’99
The first round of the fight that on June 26, 1999, left reporters and spectators breathless seemed to fully confirm the expectations of the eve. A literally electrified Tapia, after shoving his opponent during the announcements, risking to trigger a brawl before the start, dominated the opening round, giving the impression of being able to call the shots without too much effort. Never was an impression more premature: indeed, from the second round onwards, the challenger forcefully entered the fight with his intense and effective work from close range, demonstrating that he had not shown up to play a supporting role. While Tapia showed his best moves by being the outfighter, evading, and countering, Ayala was preferred in the close exchanges for the greater explosiveness of his blows, so that at the halfway point, the challenge was still decidedly balanced and would remain so until the end.
The challenger’s greater athletic freshness, significantly less worn out by his career but also by his lifestyle compared to his opponent, allowed him to take a small lead in the score between the seventh and ninth rounds, but where Tapia couldn’t reach with his physicality, he reached with technique and class: masterful dodges, control of the tempo, and perfect management of distance allowed him to arrive at the final round having again put everything into question. However, the last fateful three minutes, fought chest to chest in a crescendo of pathos from the two warriors, justified Ayala’s triumph, capable of a few more sparks and deservedly proclaimed the new champion.
A masterpiece fading at its peak: the failed revenge of Mi Vida Loca
It took more than a year for the two fighters to meet again, this time again in Las Vegas, but this time at the MGM Grand. In the meantime, Ayala had defended the WBA belt twice while Tapia had won the WBO title. Logic would have wanted the two to face each other in a prestigious unification fight, but it was not to be: incredibly, the two teams agreed to a catchweight at 124 pounds, even higher than the super bantamweight limit! Apparently, the many sacrifices made in his career to comply with the dictates of the scale combined with his reckless lifestyles had made the feat of continuing to make the weight for Mi Vida Loca improbable, and the historic rival Ayala, rather than giving up the hefty purse, had acceded to his demands.
The first two rounds were a true déjà vu: superb display of technique by Tapia in the first and violent angry reaction by Ayala in the second. From this moment on, however, the tactical trend of the fight began to differ significantly from that of the previous year. Tapia, as he had announced in the pre-fight presentation, did not let himself be drawn into a war, preferring to make the most of his better skills with a prudent and astute conduct of the contest. The choice proved largely winning: by systematically avoiding his opponent’s punches and landing rapid two-handed combinations, Mi Vida Loca fully took command of the operations, so much so that from the third to the sixth round, he was the absolute master of the ring.
Only in the second half did Ayala give timid signs of awakening, promptly frustrated by a ninth round once again magnificent from his famous opponent. It was at this point, however, that Tapia’s fuel began to run out, allowing his rival to win one after the other the last three rounds, putting the judges in front of a dilemma not easily solved. This writer would have found a draw acceptable, but the jury’s decision again favored Paulie Ayala, sending Tapia and his fans into a fury. As the boxer was being escorted to the locker rooms with force by security personnel, his brother-in-law punched Bob Arum’s stepson and was subsequently taken away in handcuffs. Arum himself was accused by the losing team of sabotaging Mi Vida Loca for not joining Top Rank.
Today Johnny Tapia is no longer with us, grudges and controversies are now extinct, but what remains are the images of two high-class contests that he and the brave Paulie Ayala knew how to give us.