Juan "Johnny Blaze" Tapia of Brownsville, had to pull out of a massive fight. A fight was scheduled for May 22 with former two-time Olympic gold medalist Robisery Ramirez of Cuba due to a rotator cuff injury and Bicep tear. It was perhaps the biggest fight of Tapia's young and promising career but it was a fight that needed to be taken at 100%. It's not a situation unique to Tapia, unified welterweight world champion Errol Spence just had to back out of the biggest money fight of his career, a legacy fight, with Manny Pacquiao due to an injury. Injuries are a part of the sport, and a fighter can't be knocked for not fighting any fight while injured, especially a fight of that magnitude. Tapia knew other opportunities would present themselves. That opportunity was November 5th in Las Vegas against Adam Lopez on the Mikaela Mayer vs. Maiva Hamadouche card. It was a great opportunity against a big name, on a major card, and most importantly a very, very winnable fight for the highly skilled and quick-fisted Texan.
Tapia eagerly signed the contract, started camp, and got to work. Sparring with fellow Rio Grande Valley native and super bantamweight world champion Brandon Figueroa as well as fellow world title challenger Miguel Flores of Houston. Two fighters, head and shoulders better than Adam Lopez. Tapia was getting excellent sparring and holding his own preparing for the fight and the victory that would change the trajectory of his career. A win on an ESPN aired Top Rank card is the win the Brownsvillian, needed to get his name mentioned among the world-class elite fighters in the world and get himself in the world title discussion. Tapia, a father of two, because of his hard work, willingness to pay his dues and remain patient, had a clear path to changing his life and taking himself to the next level.
That's where things get strange. Top Rank sent out a press release saying Adam Lopez was scheduled to fight fringe contender Adan Ochoa, who is best known for losing every moment of his fight to Edward Vazquez of Fort Worth, before scoring a thudding knockdown, that Vazquez recovered from got up and dominated every moment of the fight on his way to a UD victory. It was an intriguing fight, that aired on ESPN as part of the Top Rank summer series in "The Bubble" in which Ochoa was clearly outmanned and outgunned. That's his best performance, a clear loss to a young prospect. Several media publications picked up the press release, including Fight Mag https://www.fightmag.com.au/2021/10/02/mikaela-mayer-vs-maiva-hamadouche-date-set-for-nov-5-in-vegas-tickets/ and published the news of Lopez-Ochoa. That's strange as Tapia had a signed contract and was in the midst of training camp. Two days later and out of nowhere the Nevada State Athletic Commission unapproved Tapia for the fight. According to Team Tapia the reason given by Jeff Mullen, of the NSAC, was that Tapia “wasn't at that level yet” and “wasn't seasoned enough.”
The comments by Mullen are beyond bizarre and defy logic as the same commission approved Tapia to fight Shakur Stevenson in 2018, much earlier in Tapia's career. Stevenson is one of the most skilled and dominant fighters in the sport who went on to easily win a world title the next year. By any metric Stevenson is a far, far superior fighter to Adam Lopez. That's not to disrespect Lopez who is a fan-friendly warrior who loves to scrap. However, Stevenson is a special, unique, talent who is among a handful of fighters who are earmarked as the future of the sport. So the commission thought a much younger Tapia was ready to fight Stevenson who was closing in on a world title fight as well as Cuban sensation Ramirez, who is also a far, far more skilled and a whole another level from Lopez. Both of those fights the NSAC had no issue with approving. However, after approving The Lopez-Tapia fight, the NSAC decided to go back, for no reason, and reconsider its approval of Juan Tapia. They then assured Tapia's team that this time, unlike when they approved him, this time their decision was final.
The NSAC stated that they have not as of yet approved the Lopez-Ochoa fight at this time. Ochoa's best win came back in late 2018 when he outpointed Edgar Cantu of Laredo, Texas. Tapia's best win came on a major card- Spence-Garcia perhaps the biggest card of 2020 when he outpointed the house fighter, Fernando Garcia at Cowboy Stadium, it was that win that propelled him into bigger fights. Fights like the Stevenson fight or the Ramirez fight. Fights Tapia has earned the old-fashioned way. Going into enemy territory and upsetting the house fighter, what he did against Garcia, what he was planning on and preparing on doing in the Lopez fight until he was mysteriously unapproved for the fight he was already approved for, just days after Top Rank mysteriously named Ochoa as the opponent for Lopez and not Tapia who was already contractually obligated to the Lopez fight.
