By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao’s sparring partner Glen Tapia who helped prepare Pacquiao for his WBO welterweight title fight against Antonio Margarito will be back in action at the Boardwalk in Atlantic City on March 26.
The hard-hitting undefeated prospect with the rock star looks who has a record of 8-0 with 5 knockouts has fully recovered from a broken jaw that had to be wired shut for five weeks after his unanimous decision win over Quinton Whitaker last October.
Tapia who takes on Ecuador’s Eberto Medina (5-5, 1 KO) in a six-round junior-middleweight bout is hoping to outdo his last performance when he appeared sluggish after arriving from the Philippines a week before the Whitaker fight and suffering from jet lag.
The Tapia vs. Medina bout will support the WBA super world and IBF featherweight title fight between Cuba’s flashy Yuriorkis Gamboa (19-0, 15 KO’s) and Mexico’s Jorge Solis (40-2-2, 29 KO’s) who lost by an 8th round knockout to Pacquiao in San ANTONIO, Texas on April 14, 2007..
Tapia suffered the broken jaw early in his clash with Whitaker but stood firm, showed his remarkable toughness and went on to win by a unanimous decision.
In an email to the Inquirer, Tapia said "There were so many things wrong and I feel like I didn't entertain the crowd enough. Now I feel like I have to do double time." Tapia, who is promoted by Top Rank and Pound for Pound Promotions said "It's good that it happened to me because now I know that I never want to feel like that again. I'm training harder and you guys are going to see the result.”
He said "The doctors tell me that my jaw is stronger than it was before, and I feel like I'm better than I was before all around. Now I'm just ready to get in the ring already and fight."
Tapia's opponent, the 27 year old Medina scored the biggest win of his career in 2006 when he defeated Andrzej Fonfara, then 4-0, by a unanimous decision. Fonfara now holds the WBC Youth light heavyweight title.
Also in action will be Tapia's stablemate "King" Jorge Diaz of New Brunswick, NJ challenging Teon Kennedy of Philadelphia, PA for Kennedy's USBA super bantamweight title.
