Johnny Tapia turned a grudge match between hometown rivals into a boxing exhibition Friday night, scoring a unanimous decision over Danny Romero in a fight between the two junior batamweight champions.
Tapia dominated with his left hand and simply outboxed Romero, who grew increasingly frustrated as he tried desperately to land a big right hand in the late rounds to turn the fight around.Tapia, the WBO 115-pound champion, won the early rounds and was in control late as he added the IBF version of the title that Romero had held.
Tapia, with a frenzied crowd chanting "Johnny! Johnny!" at the UNLV campus arena, was so in command of the fight that, after the bell sounded to end the 11th round, he wrapped his arm around Romero's neck and stuck his tongue out at his Albuquerque, N.M., rival.
There were no knockdowns in a fight marked by Tapia's showboating and Romero's inability to get inside and land meaningful punches. Time and time again, Romero would swing wildly, only to find Tapia had long since gotten out of the way.
The mercurial Tapia taunted Romero throughout the fight, sticking his chin out at one point only to get a right hand from Romero in response. Tapia did a backflip in the ring as the bell sounded to end the fight, while Romero raised his arms in triumph.
Judges Jerry Roth and Clark Sammartino had Tapia winning 116-112 and judge Glen Hamada had him ahead 115-113.
The 30-year-old Tapia, banned from boxing for three years for drug use, was simply quicker and stronger than Romero, who was a slight favorite going into the fight.
Romero (30-2) attempted to keep the pressure on Tapia and managed to catch him with a few good right hands in the middle and late rounds.
Tapia (41-0-2) set the pace early, controlling the first few rounds with a left jab and left hook while Romero had trouble finding the distance.