Tapia shakes off rust,
squeaks by with split D win over Bentz

Ringside report by Chris Cozzone and Jose Reyes
Photos by Chris Cozzone

It might’ve been the ten-month layoff that had five-time world champion Johnny Tapia having to work hard against a better-than-expected Nicky Bentz last night at the Dodge Arena in Hidalgo, Texas.

It might also have been age.

Whatever it was, Tapia, 38 next month and coming off an upset loss last March to New Mexico rival Frankie Archuleta, had enough left in his gas tank to shake off the ring rust and convince two of three judges to declare him winner by split decision.

Through their ten-round, non-televised bout, promoted by Fresquez Productions, in front of nearly 4,000 fans, Tapia was the aggressor, but a slight lag in his reflex time made his vintage hit-and-make-you-miss routine far enough off the mark for Bentz to land enough clean counterpunching right hands to make it a close fight.

Tapia won the first round with his jab, pressuring an unwilling Bentz around the ring in a somewhat tentative round.

In the 2nd, Bentz had seen enough of Tapia to know how to beat him. Borrowing the game plan employed by Archuleta last year, Bentz waited for Tapia to move in, then timed his right hand, counterpunching after Tapia shot his own right or attempted a left hook downstairs. Bentz, however, was waiting too long and Tapia, pressuring and jabbing, made the round a toss-up.

Tapia sought to mix it up close quarter in the third frame but Bentz, bent on his strategy of fire once and move, did not oblige—he didn’t need to, for his solid right hands were starting to land with more frequency.

Tapia continued to pressure—and continued to pay coming in. While he threw his best shot in the first minute—a solid one-two to the face while he had Bentz pinned up against the ropes—the Reynosa opponent was coming alive. By the end of the round, Tapia’s nose was bleeding from those right hands.

While he was still waiting too long, making it a less exciting fight than it could’ve been, Bentz secured the fifth round with yet more right hands that tagged Tapia, who was unsuccessfully seeking to slip in and out with a combination without getting hit.

Round Six was also Bentz’s. who took a breather after getting hit low by Tapia. After the break, Tapia came out rushing and closed the round by forcing Bentz to trade toe-to-toe.

In the 7th, Tapia was showing a cut over his right eye, the result of a punch, according to officials, although Tapia’s trainer, Oscar Suarez, insisted it was from an unintentional headbutt. Regardless of the cut, Tapia took back the fight with his jab, rights and occasional lefts to the body while Bentz took the round off until the final moments.

Having been warned twice in the Sixth for low blows, Tapia lost a much-needed point in the 8th when it happened again. It was a big round for Bentz, who scored it 10-8 after several more right hands landed on a slowing, tiring Tapia. At the end of the round, the crowd actually booed with the slackening of activity.

Round Nine was close, with both fighters trading effective punches—although it was Bentz who landed the harder, cleaner shots.

Both writers had it dead even going into the tenth and final round.

Tapia snapped to in the last round while Bentz decided to shock the crowd by coming forward—a rarity in this fight. The two banged it out, making the judges choose between Tapia’s output versus Bentz’s hard rights. As the final bell sounded, Tapia, caught in the heat of battle, continued to throw and, with Bentz stepping out of range, the momentum of the final punch, cutting through air, had the former champ falling to the canvas.

The judges were divided with their scorecards: 98-92 for Tapia; 97-92 for Bentz; and 96-93 for Tapia, making him winner by split decision.

Even Fightnews/NewMexicoBoxing was split: Cozzone had it 95-94 in favor of Tapia while Jose Reyes had it 95-94 for Bentz.

Of course, we could’ve all been way off, for it wasn’t easy to see what was going on in the ring due to insufficient lighting barely provided by four cheap halogen work lights they had taped to poles that protruded out of each corner of the ring.

The crowd, however, was satisfied with the outcome, and cheered both fighters heartily.

“I won seven or eight rounds out of this fight,” Bentz said, shaking his head in the ring following the announcement of the winner. “Johnny was losing his power and was going to go down. He was out of breath.”

After several hugs from Tapia, in the ring and shortly afterwards, at the postfight press conference, Bentz lightened up, telling the media what an honor it was fighting a legendary champion like Tapia.

“It was a very close fight,” Tapia admitted. “But I had myself winning.

“Nicky is a strong fighter and I give him all the credit in the world. But we had a win, and that’s all that counts.”

With Tapia and Bentz grinning like old pals, it was up to trainer Oscar Suarez to show a bit of edge at the conference. He berated the referee and the Texas Athletic Commission:

“The point deduction for the low blow was an unfair decision. Nicky was hitting low, too, and was not even warned. From the start, we were treated unfairly by the Commission.”

As for the fight?

“Johnny was more aggressive and more accurate, picking his shots,” he said. “Nicky was waiting too long.

With the win, in his 60th fight, Tapia moves to 54-4-2 (29 KOs) while Bentz suffers a second straight loss, dropping to 36-4 (28 KOs).

“It’s time to let the young guns take over,” said Tapia. “It’s time for me to start training fighters.”

After a couple more fights, that is. Tapia revealed his plan to drop down to 122 pounds—a weight he has not been for four years—and challenge one of the superbantam champions in an attempt to retire as a six-time world champ.

“It’s the only weight I haven’t won a title at,” he said.

Tapia’s wife/manager, Teresa, said they already had three offers on the table, and had been negotiating with WBC champ Oscar Larios as well as IBF champ Israel Vazquez.

A rematch with Archuleta is also inevitable, they said.

“We’re going to hold him to his promise,” Teresa Tapia said. “He promised us a rematch after he won last year-now we’re going to see if he’s a man of his word.”

‘El Tigre’ upset by cagey Soberanis

In the co-main event, a bout upgraded after promoters had no luck securing an opponent for Mexico City prospect Cuauhtemoc “the Aztec Warrior” Vargas (12-0-1, 8 KOs, local hopeful from Edinburgh, Raul “El Tigre” Cazares took on San Antonio’s Michael Soberanis, out of Tony Ayala, Sr.’s stable.

On paper, it should’ve been an easy tune-up for Cazares, but Soberanis proved that records are deceiving. Earlier that day, trainer Tony Ayala, Sr. had told us that Soberanis was going to upset—a boast that proved true.

It made the best fight of the night.

With little regard for defense or Cazares’ careful counterpunching, Soberanis immediately went to work in the first round, landing heavy blows and applying fierce pressure.

Cazares returned fire in the second stanza, landing the more telling punches in their many heated exchanges. ‘El Tigre’s height disadvantage, and commitment to body shots, had him flirting with low blows. One such blow gave Soberanis a brief rest.

In the third round, another low blow had Cazares losing a point. Soberanis stepped up the pace after recovering, giving him a 10-8 round.

In the 4th, despite another warning from the ref, Cazares turned the fight around, hitting Soberanis with solid shots that made more of an impression than the San Antonian’s higher workrate.

Cazares carried his momentum into the 6th and 7th, closing the sixth round with a four-punch combination that had Soberanis on his bike; and staggering his foe in the next frame.

In the eighth and final round, after his corner plead to go out there and brawl, Soberanis went to work on Cazares, hurting him though not enough to keep the local favorite from banging it out with him in the best action yet.

The judges were mixed: 77-74 Cazares, 77-73 Soberanis and 76-75 Soberanis, giving the San Antonio fighter the win by split decision.

Soberanis moves to 5-11-1, 0 KOs, while the Edinburgh prospect suffers his first blemish, and is now 8-1, 5 KOs.

“I don’t understand what the judges were thinking,” the 18-year-old Cazares said at the postfight press conference. “I beat the hell out of him and I had him hurt. He was gone.”

Cazares chalked up his loss to a learning experience and says he’ll drop down from 154 to welterweight.

“I guarantee, I’ll be back. Edinburgh will have a world champion.”

Undercard results

In the opening bout, Albuquerque’s Jose “Goose” Ramirez fought a three-round exhibition against Gabe Rivera of Mission, Texas.

Both fighters committed to the body and Ramirez, the taller of the two, scored the better shots using uppercuts and sharp right hands.

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In the second bout, between middleweights, Ft. Worth's Javier Diaz picked up a win in his pro debut over game Juan Ruiz (2-2, 1 KO) of Alamo, Texas.

Diaz came out a determined aggressor in the first round while Ruiz sat back to counter. Halfway through the round, though, Ruiz gave the crowd what they wanted when he battled back to win the round with a furious flurry of punches.

The second saw a repeat of the first: Diaz winning early, then Ruiz stealing the second half.

Round Three had Ruiz coming out strong, driving Diaz to the ropes and staggering him several times, but not enough to keep him from firing back with his own hard punches, forcing Ruiz to hold and clinch.

In the fourth and final round, Ruiz contined to stagger Diaz, but both ended the round with guns blazing.

One judge had it even at 38-38 while the other two scored it for Diaz, 39-37 and 40-36.

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In the final undercard bout, pro debut lightweight Abron Esquivel, of Monterrey, Mexico, scored the only stoppage of the night by taking care of Ramiro Torres (0-4-10 in less than a round.

Southpaw Esquivel caught Torres with a right hook early on, sending him to the canvas. Torres beat the clock, but after the fight resumed, Esquivel dished out more punishment, dropping his foe with a left cross.

Torres got up on wobbly legs, ready to fight, but his corner threw in the white towel at 2:05.

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