Jersey Boy Glen Tapia Stops Han and Wins NABO in Bloodbath
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
El Paso, TX (June 13th, 2013)– In a light middleweight prospects crossroads bout featured on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights, 18-0 Glen ‘Jersey Boy’ Tapia of Passaic, New Jersey remained unbeaten at 19-0 and won the vacant World Boxing Organization North American Light Middleweight title with an eighth round stoppage of 19-0 Abraham Han of El Paso, Texas. Referee Jay Nady called an end to the bloody evening after round eight on the advice of the ringside doctor. Blood flowed profusely from a cut on the left side of Han’s head after an accidental clash of heads in round four. Han was down on round seven.
The bout was an up and down see saw battle saw battle. Tapia won a brutal first round by pinning Han against the ropes and doing facial damage with both hands. Tapia continued doing damage in the second, while Han rallied to win the third round. The clash of heads marred the fourth round. Han came forward and was boxing strongly in the fifth round and almost had Tapia ready to go. Both fighters went toe to toe in the sixth round. In the seventh round, Tapia cut Han with hard shots above the left eye in the seventh round and dropped him for a 10-8 round. Han came back in the eighth round and was battling even with Tapia, but the bloodbath and facial damage from Han was simply too much to ignore at this point. It just wasn’t Han’s night, and allowing further damage would have been pointless, with Tapia clearly ahead on the cards, and no way to stop Han’s flow of blood. Han should be credited for coming to fight, perhaps the best test Tapia has seen thus far.
Having covered Tapia at Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in August 2012 (a bout in which journeyman Franklin Gonzalez opted to go down in the first round rather than fight it out, as he was in a higher weight class and could not compete with Tapia), my overwhelming impression at the time was Glen Tapia was world class, and clearly worthy of better opposition. As Tapia rises at 154 pounds, a marvelous division for him, he continues to move closer to 10 and 12 round bout status. At age 23, Tapia is young to this division, and could rise like a meteor in the next year if Saul Alvarez falls to aging Floyd Mayweather Jr. on September 14. Tapia’s last five opponents had winning records and a combined 83 wins. If you add Tapia’s second round knockout over Mike Ruiz at Madison Square Garden in 2011 to the total, you get six opponents with winning records Tapia has beaten with a combined 98 wins, a good walk in the park for a rising fighter.
The above picture was taken by me at Bally’s Hotel and Casino in October 2010 after Tapia’s six round decision win over 7-7 Quinton Whitaker, the first time Tapia had gone six rounds as a professional boxer. At the time, virtually nobody knew who Glen Tapia was, but I predicted good things for this young man, as he was using good overhand jabs to the body and head, demonstrating natural superior boxing skills very early on in the game.
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