Boxing: Alvarez's crazy life comes to London
American Johnny Tapia, boxing’s wild man, brings his fistic talents to London’s East End tonight when he meets Argentina’s Eduardo Alvarez at York Hall, Bethnal Green.
Tapia’s incredible life would make a Hollywood movie - his father was shot dead before he was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and he watched his mother being drugged, raped and murdered when he was only seven.
A cocaine addict, Tapia has attempted suicide three times, suffered depression and spells in prison.
He has won the WBO and IBF world super-flyweight titles and the WBA and WBO bantamweight belts.
Now 34, Tapia has certainly lived up to nickname Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life) and makes his European debut at featherweight following his 50th victory (27 stoppages) last June.
He has also drawn twice, with two defeats, both to his bitter rival Texan Paulie Ayala.
‘‘Boxing’s been my blessing. It won’t matter if you look way back at my past jail, drugs, whatever. Boxing has saved my life,’’ said Tapia.
Alvarez, 26, has had 29 wins (six stoppages) and four defeats, including an eighth-round knockout by South African Lehlo Ledwaba for the IBF super-bantamweight title in Maidstone in October 2000.
Victory for Tapia will earn him a shot at the winner of tonight’s WBO world featherweight championship between Argentina’s Julio Pablo Chacon and Victor Polo, of Colombia.
Classy Chacon, 26, won the title formerly held by Naseem Hamed when he stopped Hungarian Istvan Kovacs in six rounds in Budapest last June.
Chacon boasts 42 victories (31 stoppages) with two losses, one to Freddie Norwood for the WBA title.
Polo, 31, has made two abortive world-title attempts, losing a technical decision to Manuel Medina (IBF) in April 1999 and a split decision to Derrick Gainer (WBA) 11 months ago.
Polo’s 30 wins include 22 inside the distance, while he has drawn twice.
Croydon’s Wayne Alexander attempts to add the vacant European light-middleweight title to his British crown when he meets Italian Paolo Pissamiglio.
Alexander, 28, says he is mentally stronger since his only defeat, in five rounds to Harry Simon for the WBO world title, a fight he took at 24-hours’ notice, last February.
Big-punching Alexander, with 17 wins (14 stoppages) does not expect too much trouble from Pissamiglio, 31, whose previous EBU title bid ended in an eighth round defeat by Frenchman Mamadou Thiam last January.
