Why did a fight between Johnny Tapia and Mark Johnson never happen? who would win?

[Khalid X]

according to drunk old larry, he was offered $1.5 Million

@1:15

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPcD-WVZpyQ

user didn't allow embedding

The only time Tapia was even close to being on Hamed's radar was around the time he moved up to 122 for his showdowns with Ayala.

Tapia had barely moved up, and to be honest the gameplan was Barrera, then Morales, followed by the winner of gainer vs marquez and possible Tapia.

HBO was gonna put a lot of money into making Hamed the face of their boxing, had a list of names (the ones I mentioned above) mapped out for him......but Marco Antonio Barrera brought all of that **** to an end.

Fvkkkk what Merchant I doubt he gave two ****s about the lower weight classes.

[$coinblatt$]

And Ricardo Lopez ducked Carbajaul. All Lopez had to do was eat one Pancake and he could have had a couple superfights. Sorry, having only Alvarez as his best opponent doesn't cut it.

meh, perhaps I don't give a fuck though. Totally irrelevant to the thread.

Oh well damn, maybe...I didn't know that.

But, yea that was the same time JMM was offered 400k...Crazy they offered Tapia 1.5 and offered JMM 400k for the same date. But, at that time Mi Vida Loca was more known...

I like how MAB was overlooked. It was suppose to be MAB early in the year after and then Morales...Yea that didn't happen

correct me if im wrong but I read somewhere that Marquez didn't take the Pacquiao rematch because they had originally offered him more money but then gave him a low ball offer afterwards (700k). Do you know if this is true? dumb move either way.

[Khalid X]

Perhaps Finito ducked Lopez. He never moved up to challenge him you're right. But, out of curiosity what offer was turned down? What negotiations did Finito refuse to participate with Carbajal? Honest question.

Not sure if your asking this question to that guy in an attempt to expose him, but I would love to answer this question.

The answer is there were no negotiations as Ricardo Lopez didn't want to move up.

In no way was it a ducked, and it's similar to people wanting to see Ward vs Martinez or Bute vs Martinez and Lou and Sergio hearing about it and stating they aren't moving up and will continue to defend his MW strap.

Same **** with Lopez.

Many people wanted to see him move up, but like I stated earlier he was taking the Haglar route in a sense that he wanted to go down as the greatest of all-time in his division by staying there and defending his title.

[edgarg]

This is a fight I would have loved to see in the mid-late 90's....both were the best talents of their eras IMO at flyweight-bantamweight.....in their primes they were always seperated by 3 pounds....I think this would have been one of the best most highly skilled fights there ever would have been.

Honestly not sure who I'd favor....I always go back and fortth

This would have been a great fight. I had great respect for both of them as superb boxers and fighters. Too Sharp was really at his blazing best as a fly and super-fly. By the time he beat Montiel he was already finished and couldn't move around. He had a completely different style in this fight, just trying to deliver a strong right hand.

He was then 32 years old and just at the end of his career. he had 4 more fights won 2 and was KOd in his last 2. he should have retired after Montiel, which had shown him he was finished. He actually won the majority of the first 8=9 rounds but faded to the finish and just squeaked out a tight one.

I liked both Johnsons, Mark and Stevie. Great fighters, and very under-appreciated.

[Roman Moreno]

meh, perhaps I don't give a fuck though. Totally irrelevant to the thread.




correct me if im wrong but I read somewhere that Marquez didn't take the Pacquiao rematch because they had originally offered him more money but then gave him a low ball offer afterwards (700k). Do you know if this is true? dumb move either way.

I don't think so never heard anything like that. And, I doubt it because Pac wasn't going to make much more than that 700k. I think the most Pac was getting was 800k maybe 850k. But, I think HBO was only offering 1.5mil for that fight. 700k to JMM and the rest to Pac. Didn't hear about him being offered more and then less.

JMM also turned down 1.5mil to fight Morales back in 05' but again that was Nacho...Nacho kind of F'd up JMM career in terms of getting the right fights.

[Mars Volta]

[Caxcan]

People can say that the word "duck" gets thrown a lot...And, that might very well be true.

But, Tapia blatantly ducked Johnson...Finito also didn't want it. Neither did carbajal or Chiquita at a catchweight of 110. Top Rank straight up said no to those fights.

Finito was a dream match but the negotiations never got far. And, the weight-class was an issue as well...That wasn't a duck.

Again, I don't know how you can technically duck someone who isn't even competing in the same division as you. Was Johson deserving of a shot at Tapia? Sure. Was he entitled to it? No.

[Roman Moreno]

Again, I don't know how you can technically duck someone who isn't even competing in the same division as you. Was Johson deserving of a shot at Tapia? Sure. Was he entitled to it? No.

No one is entitled to anything.

Did one side try and reach out to make a fight happen in 98? Yes. The other side straight up refuse to have anything to do with such fight? Yes.

That's a duck. Tapia flat out ducked him...I'm sure if it was up to Mi Vida Loca he would have fought Johnson no problem. He would have fought anyone. But, Tapia promoter didn't want that fight. They saw it as too much of a risk...And, even though Tapia would have fought him regardless his promoter decision falls on him like it does any fighter.

[bose]

People throw around accusations of guys ducking each other way too frequently. Johnson wasn't a big draw, and if he really wanted to land a fight with then Super Flyweight champ Tapia, he should have moved up and made noise at Super Flyweight. Instead, he waited for Tapia to vacate the title before moving up.

People going to ignore this.

I remember Mark but i don't remember him calling out Tapia. So am not that familer with his career. Seen him a few times fight when the western arena was around (i think that was the name).

Mark didn't have a following. But, he was on west coast tv a lot so. I don't think he going to jail helped his career much.

[Caxcan]

No one is entitled to anything.

Did one side try and reach out to make a fight happen in 98? Yes. The other side straight up refuse to have anything to do with such fight? Yes.

That's a duck. Tapia flat out ducked him...I'm sure if it was up to Mi Vida Loca he would have fought Johnson no problem. He would have fought anyone. But, Tapia promoter didn't want that fight. They saw it as too much of a risk...And, even though Tapia would have fought him regardless his promoter decision falls on him like it does any fighter.

Tapia ducked Johnson just like Mayweather is ducking Khan. When you're a big name fighter, guys calling you out comes with the territory, but you're not obligated to fight every guy out there, especially when they're not a big draw or even compete in your division. If Johnson was frustrated with the lack of big name fighters at flyweight, he should have moved up earlier and established himself in the higher divisions. He would have likely gotten a high ranking and would have been in line for a title after a few fights, but instead of doing so, he chose to wait until a vacant title was made available.