Mi Vida Loca.
The motto Johnny Tapia lived by will undoubtedly become his lasting legacy now that his crazy life has come to an end.
The five-time boxing world champion was found dead in his home Sunday night. He was 45 years old.
Albuquerque police were dispatched to the Tapia residence Sunday evening and found a body inside.
A family friend who was at the Tapia residence Sunday night confirmed the body was indeed Tapia’s. No further information was immediately available.
One of the most endearing and well-known sports figures in New Mexico history, Tapia’s life was rooted in tragedy and hardship.
It was also highlighted by his remarkable talent inside the boxing ring. He burst onto the scene in the early 1980s as an amateur. He quickly rose through the ranks, winning his first professional championship belt in 1990.
That same year, he tested positive for cocaine and was suspended from the sport.
Flamboyant and outgoing, he was a fan favorite despite his penchant for self-destructive behavior outside the ring.
He spent a good part of his life in and out of jail, sandwiching his time between fights with a seemingly never-ending battle with drug and alcohol addiction.
He was raised in Albuquerque’s tough Wells Park neighborhood. As a child, he reportedly witnessed his mother’s murder. He never knew his father. He was raised by his grandparents.
With unyielding support from those around him, he never could shake the demons that ruled his personal life. He reportedly attempted suicide more than once and had stints in an and out of correctional facilities.
His latest brush with the law came in January, when he crashed his car on Albuquerque’s west side. He was suspected of driving under the influence.
Tapia’s ties to Northern New Mexico include extended family in and around the Las Vegas area. He even staged one of his many comeback fights in the Meadow City, taking on Las Vegas native Frankie Archuleta in a nationally televised nontitle bout at New Mexico Highlands University’s Wilson Complex in 2005.
The two faced off again a year later at Albuquerque’s Tingley Coliseum.
He also had a fight at Española’s Ohkay Casino in 2010, just eight months after his release from the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Los Lunas and three years after a drug overdose that nearly claimed his life.
Tapia said his time in prison helped him stay clean, but he never made any promises about staying out of trouble down the road. It seemed he was never far from another bad decision.
“I stayed clean in there,” he told The New Mexican before his fight in Española. “So I know I can stay clean out here. But it’s only for today because yesterday is gone and tomorrow never comes. If I go and be excited too much and I mess up, then I have to start over again. Like I said, for today I’m OK.”
Tapia prided himself as a man of the people. After his first bout against Archuleta, he said Las Vegas was his adopted hometown and that he’s always been, in some way, a part of the community in which he fought.
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