By Keith Idec
Glen Tapia won’t be able to say much, but that won’t stop the undefeated junior middleweight prospect from Passaic from attending the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito fight Nov. 13 at Cowboys Stadium.
Tapia, 20, is recovering from surgery Sunday to repair a fractured jaw sustained during his fight Saturday night in Atlantic City. His jaw will remain wired shut for nearly a month and he probably won’t box again until early in the spring.
Tapia suffered the injury during the third round of his six-round fight against sturdy San Antonio journeyman Quinton Whitaker (7-8, 5 KOs) at Bally’s Events Center. A determined Tapia (8-0, 5 KOs) fought through the pain for three-plus rounds and beat Whitaker, 59-55, on all three scorecards.
The fight occurred just a week after Tapia returned from the Philippines, where he served as Pacquiao’s primary sparring partner for his junior middleweight title fight against Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs, 1 NC).
Tapia will travel to Arlington, Texas, as a guest of Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs) and Top Rank Inc., Bob Arum’s promotional company. Top Rank is putting the finishing touches on a four-year contract for Tapia, who will continue to be co-promoted by Union City-based Pound-For-Pound Promotions.
