Johnny Tapia Found Dead

[Neezar]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/boxing-...-20120528.html

My goodness. This guy's life sounds horrible.

Despite his brilliance in the ring, he was far better known for a life story that was far stranger than any fiction novel could ever be.

An 89-word passage from his 2010 autobiography, "Mi Vida Loca," probably best sums up the sad life of this small, troubled and talented man.

"My name is Johnny Lee Tapia. I was born on Friday the 13th. A Friday in February of 1967. To this day I don't know if that makes me lucky or unlucky. When I was eight I saw my mother murdered. I never knew my father. He was murdered before I was born. I was raised as a pit bull. Raised to fight to the death. Four times I was declared dead. Four times they wanted to pull life support. And many more times I came close to dying."

[J.B.]

I saw this earlier today also, it's too bad. Even with all his problems outside the ring people still spoke quite fondly of him, and he was a hell of a fighter. Between this and the Paul Williams accident yesterday it's been a rough couple of days for the sport of Boxing.

[rearnakedchoke]

loved watching this guy fight ... i was gonna make this thread earlier, but i figured a few would come in and talk about how he was a coke addict etc ... instead of just saying RIP ...

RIP Johnny!!

[rockdawg21]

RIP

[Bella79]

Sad!

[Bonnie]

So much success in his professional life, yet so much sadness throughout his personal life.

[Neezar]

It was when the gym doors were closed and the lights were turned off that Tapia couldn't win. Death was his constant companion. His mother was raped, stabbed repeatedly with a screwdriver and chained to the back of a truck. When he tried to tell family members what he saw, no one believed the 8-year-old until it was too late.

[J.B.]

Originally Posted by Neezar