Johnny Tapia vs Willy Salazar

Johnny Tapia retained his WBO world super flyweight championship when Willy Salazar retired after the ninth round at Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio, California, on Friday, December 1, 1995. Salazar did not come out for the tenth round of the scheduled twelve-round contest. The victory was Tapia’s fourth successful defence of the title he had won against Henry Martinez in October 1994.

Tapia had remained busy throughout the year. He defeated Jose Rafael Sosa by unanimous decision in February, retained his championship through a technical draw with Ricardo Vargas in May, and overcame Arthur Johnson on a majority decision in July. Two subsequent appearances brought victories over Jesse Miranda and Raul Rios in contests without the championship at stake. He therefore entered the Salazar defence unbeaten, with 32 victories and two draws.

Salazar landed his share of punches during the exchanges, including a right jab to the chin and a left uppercut. Tapia was consequently required to take punches as well as deliver them. The challenger suffered a cut above an eye, which received attention in his corner, but continued through nine completed rounds. The surviving photographic record confirms both Salazar’s successes in attack and the visible damage he sustained, although it does not establish the round in which the cut opened.

The finish came during the interval following the ninth, with Salazar remaining in his corner. Tapia’s victory was recorded at three minutes of that round, rather than as a stoppage during the tenth. He left Indio with 33 victories, two draws and no defeats, having completed his fourth championship defence within ten months. His next defence followed in February 1996, when he stopped Giovanni Andrade in the second round.

I give Tapia credit for taking Salazar seriously. The Mexican had just beaten Danny Romero, so his losses on paper were no excuse to dismiss him. Tapia had already come through a technical draw with Ricardo Vargas and a majority decision over Arthur Johnson that year. He knew retaining a title could mean difficult rounds.

What I like here is that Salazar’s success against Romero didn’t translate into another upset. He caught Tapia with clean punches, and I wouldn’t pretend Johnny went untouched. Salazar also suffered a cut above an eye before retiring after nine rounds. This was a sustained job, rather than a single spectacular finish. For me, that deserves respect. An unbeaten record means more when you defend against someone whose last performance gave you a proper reason to be careful.