Columnist Dean Juipe: Tapia takes his best shots after the fight

Dean Juipe's boxing notebook appears Thursday. His sports column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at 259-4084 or at juipe@ lasvegassun.com

While Johnny Tapia could look in the mirror and find the person most responsible for the fact he lost his first professional fight last weekend, he has decided instead to place the blame elsewhere.

Tapia surrendered his World Boxing Association bantamweight title to Paulie Ayala last Saturday at Mandalay Bay, with the decision outcome determined by the judges. Two of them gave Ayala the fight by three points, while the third judge had Ayala ahead by one.

Tapia blames the judges for his defeat, but they're not alone. He also has blamed his promoter, Bob Arum, for not being more supportive, and in private conversation he has even blamed the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

"I thought I won the fight," Tapia was still saying Wednesday.

Asked what he would have done differently or what he might do differently if there's a rematch, Tapia said "nothing at all. Everything I did was working for me."

It's pretty obvious he's in denial.

"Johnny's a sensitive guy," said Bruce Trampler, Top Rank's matchmaker, who spent parts of two days this week trying to console the fighter and see what it would take to get him to re-sign with Top Rank. Immediately after the fight Tapia said he would not extend his contract -- which had just expired -- with Top Rank.

"We met on Sunday and Monday, just talking," Trampler said. "He was telling me all the things he thought went wrong, or what could have been done better.

"He's not thrilled with his performance, but he also felt Top Rank didn't pay enough attention to him."

Before breaking out the violins, consider that Tapia had a weight problem in the days immediately preceding the fight.

"He said he could make 120 easy but 118 was a struggle," Trampler said. "He said he lived on ice cubes the last two days, then, after the weigh-in, he pigged out and that made him sluggish in the fight."

Tapia was paid $250,000 for a fight that dropped his record to 46-1-2 and dashed his hopes of becoming a pay-per-view attraction. (Jeff Pomeroy of Showtime Boxing, which handled the pay-per-view telecast and which is also rebroadcasting the fight Saturday at 11:15 p.m., said Wednesday the pay-per-view numbers would not be available until Friday.)

Viewers saw a good action fight, albeit one with no knockdowns or deadly exchanges.

Ayala, 28-1, was paid $65,000 and went off as a 6-1 betting underdog.

"I wasn't expected to win the fight but the judges saw what actually went on," Ayala said from his Fort Worth home. "It was fairly judged."

Ayala deferred to his management team when the subject of his future plans came up, although he has a mandatory defense with Thailand's Saohin Srithai Condo that could be at the top of the list.

"I'm a low-key type of guy," Ayala said. "Whatever happens, I'm enjoying the run."

Tapia, in comparison, is miserable.

"Everybody's got to lose," he said. "I lost. It was just another fight."

His tone, however, was not convincing and he is begging Ayala for a rematch. "I'm praying for it," Tapia said. "I could be ready next month."

But he wasn't ready last Saturday, which, he told Trampler, was the result of "too many distractions."

A couple of them right before the fight involved Metro. First, the police asked for a few of the fighter's entourage to leave the cluttered dressing room before the fight, and, second, the police arrested two of the fighter's friends at the ring apron just as the fight was about to begin.

Arrested were Robert Gutierrez, Tapia's No. 2 cornerman, and Christopher Chavez. Gutierrez was booked on an outstanding warrant, while Chavez was given a Class 2 citation for disturbing the peace.

"Things were getting out of control in the ring," said Metro Lt. Chris Van Cleef, who handles the force's Special Events Section. "Each fighter is permitted five credentials that allow his people in the ring, but Tapia seemed to have some extra ones."

That may have been incidental until Tapia shoved Ayala before the opening bell, and Gutierrez and Chavez used the incident to start waving towels from their positions on the ring apron.

"The officers repeatedly asked them to get down, and they repeatedly refused," Van Cleef said. "We make it very clear beforehand what will and will not be tolerated, and this was too much. One of the (arrested) men told an officer 'Get the f--- off me' and that is not something you want to say."

As for Tapia's plans, Trampler thought it would be at least a couple of weeks before anything is ironed out. It is known that Tapia has been approached this week about fights with either Wayne McCullough or Naseem Hamed.

"I think we have the best shot of signing him," Trampler said. "The other promoters who are calling Johnny just want to use him as an opponent. We think he hasn't been diminished that much."

There's an oddity of sorts in that even the winner of the fight -- Ayala -- hasn't gained as much as he might believe.

"His people are talking about $500,000 or $600,000 purses for a rematch and that's just not going to happen," Trampler said. "Paulie's not very marketable -- he just happened to be the guy who had his hand raised."

* SOBRAL UPSET: Las Vegas-based junior middleweight Manny Sobral saw his perfect record implode last Thursday in Edmonton, when he lost the British Commonwealth title to Tony Badea. Sobral, 29, went into the bout 26-0 but came out of it not only with a loss but with two cuts on his face that required 53 stitches and a broken right leg.

"I had a rough go of it," he said Wednesday from his fiancee's home in Vancouver. "I certainly didn't get the result I wanted."

Badea, 20-3, captured the fight by sixth-round technical knockout.

He had Sobral in constant trouble, starting with a second-round knockdown that led to Sobral suffering torn ligaments in his ankle, a broken leg and periodic hallucinations. Badea also knocked down Sobral twice in the third round and opened a cut above his right eye. In the fifth round, Badea splattered Sobral's nose with a punch. And in the decisive sixth round, Sobral was down three times before the referee stopped the fight.

"It was his fight," Sobral admitted. "After I hurt my leg, I felt I was having hallucinations; the doctor said later it was because I was in shock from the injury.

"I just couldn't believe all the things that were going wrong. I tried to battle back, but it was a futile effort."

He said the leg will require six months of rehabilitation.

* QUICK HITS: Negotiations for a Floyd Mayweather vs. Roberto Garcia unification fight Sept. 11 at Mandalay Bay have broken off, and it appears as if NABF junior lightweight champion Carlos Gerena will be Mayweather's opponent for the HBO-televised fight. Gerena is 33-2 but was very unimpressive May 22 at Mandalay Bay in taking a sluggish eight-round decision over the 29-17-1 Angel Aldana. Mayweather, the WBC champ, is 21-0. Garcia, the IBF champ, is 32-0 but apparently will fight his mandatory with Diego Corrales before entertaining the possibility of fighting Mayweather. ... That Garcia vs. Corrales fight goes to purse bid July 6 and Top Rank and America Presents are both going to bid on it. ... Word from inside the Lennox Lewis vs. Evander Holyfield rematch negotiations is that the venue may change from Mandalay Bay to the Thomas & Mack Center. Their No vember fight will either be announced this month or will fall through. ... Nevada Partners hosts an amateur card Saturday at 2 p.m. and has 15 bouts scheduled. ... The New Frontier cancelled a card that had been tentative for Saturday. ... Showtime has moved the IBF junior welterweight title fight between Terron Millett and Virgil McLendon at the Las Vegas Hilton from July 17 to July 24. As it stands, that is the next local card.

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