By Keith Idec
PASSAIC, N.J. — Glen Tapia will be a changed man when returns today to the Passaic PAL, where he began boxing as a precocious 8-year-old in the late 1990s.
He’ll still be the same humble, hard-working fighter he was when he left for the Philippines last month. Life, however, has changed for this 20-year-old prospect from a rough urban community of nearly 70,000 in northern New Jersey.
Tapia impressed promoter Bob Arum so much during sparring sessions with Manny Pacquiao last week that Arum already has reached out to Pat Lynch, Tapia’s co-manager, about signing the undefeated junior middleweight prospect to a co-promotional pact with Pound-For-Pound Promotions, the Union City, N.J.-based company founded by Lynch’s brother, John.
Each of Tapia’s seven professional fights have been part of Top Rank undercards, but Pat Lynch hopes official support from one of the two most powerful promotional companies in boxing will help Tapia progress into becoming a prospect and later a contender with whom executives at HBO and/or Showtime will want to work.
“This whole experience has really has been great for Glen,” Pat Lynch said. “It couldn’t have worked out better, to be quite honest.”
Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s renowned trainer, was so thankful for the work Tapia provided Pacquiao in Baguio City he convinced Tapia to stay an additional day this week to spar one last time against Pacquiao. Tapia flew home from Manila on Friday because Tapia (7-0, 5 KOs) is scheduled to face San Antonio’s Quinton Whitaker (7-7, 5 KOs) in a non-televised, six-round fight Oct. 30 at Bally’s Events Center in Atlantic City.
That’s where Tapia thrashed Tyrone Miles (1-3), of Camden, N.J., in one minute Feb. 27. The 2006 Junior Olympic national champion has won three fights since then, two by technical knockout, and he has plenty of incentive stop Whitaker.
“Manny promised me a bonus if I win by knockout,” Tapia said, “so I guess after my fight I’ll have to fly out [to Los Angeles] to the Wild Card Gym [to collect the bonus]. I’m definitely going to win, but that’s just something to motivate me a little bit more.”
Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs) is in the process of moving his training camp from Baguio City to Hollywood this weekend. He’ll wind down sparring with WBA junior welterweight champ Amir Khan and Michael Medina, but Tapia most closely resembled Mexico’s Antonio Margarito, Pacquiao’s opponent for the Filipino superstar’s junior middleweight debut Nov. 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Aggressive, relentless and strong, Tapia possesses faster hands and more athleticism than Margarito (37-6, 27 KOs, 1 NC), too. He left Pacquiao’s camp feeling like he more than earned his money.
“It was like a slugfest in there with him every time,” Tapia said. “[I gave] him the best work I can to make his fight easier for him.”
There were times Roach was dissatisfied with Pacquiao’s production against Tapia, but Tapia acknowledges that there were days he left ring realizing full well why Pacquiao is generally regarded as one of the two top boxers in the world.
“When you spar Manny,” Tapia said, “it’s not like sparring a lefty or a righty. It’s like sparring both. He’s got a different style. He just throws punches and he turns you quick. And to fight somebody that’s so intense, it’s great working with him. To fight somebody who puts that pressure on you in there, and keeps that intensity on you the whole time, you just have to stay calm with him the whole time. You have to stay normal and put some pressure on him.
“When I have done good with him, it was just me being me, just throwing punches how I throw punches, hitting him with combinations. With my speed and power, and just mixing it up with my foot movement, I put pressure on him and just [kept] that intensity up the whole time. You want to move on him, while you’re throwing punches at him. When Manny [did] well with me, it’s like him doing the same things that I do to him. Not only does he throw a lot of punches, he turns you and just works and works and works. You’ve got to be ready for that.”
Tapia, who went 130-13 during his 10-year amateur career prior to making his pro debut in December 2008, also cautioned those who are beginning to believe everything they’ve been reading about Pacquiao having an average-at-best training camp.
“He’s getting faster and stronger,” Tapia said. “He’s getting to where he needs to be.”
Tapia is moving toward where he wants to be, inside and outside the ring. Watching Pacquiao prepare for another high-profile fight has made him realize just how hard he’ll have to work if he wants to reach boxing’s elite level in the coming years.
He also wants to return to the Philippines, where he became an instant celebrity once Filipino people learned he was Pacquiao’s primary sparring partner for the Magarito fight. He enjoyed experiencing all the respect and adulation Pacquiao commands in his homeland.
Tapia appreciates how the Filipino people embraced him, especially on Sunday, when Pacquiao fans young and old ran through the streets of Baguio City with Tapia as he did his road work.
“Sunday was supposed to be my day off, but I was working anyway,” Tapia said. “People in the neighborhood knew who I was. Then somebody screamed out, ‘Yo, Glen!’ That’s when all the kids started running with me. Everywhere I’ve gone people have wanted to say hello and take pictures with me.
“The kids were asking questions while we were running, and I was just laughing. Then I was passing by [people’s houses], and people were yelling, ‘Yo, Glen! Glen! Glen!’ Then people started running after me to take pictures while I was running. I was like, ‘Wow! This is crazy.’ But it made me want to work harder and want to be better. I always wanted to be the best, but this just makes me want to do it a little bit more.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, NJ., and BoxingScene.com.
