Johnny Tapia vs Paulie Ayala
1
In the opening round, Tapia moved around the ring worked with a jab
and jumped in quickly with straight punches and an occasional hook
to the body. Ayala pursued his opponent, looked to get on the inside
and work to the body. Both fighters were warned early in the second
round for failing to break when told to do so. Ayala came on in Round
2 catching Tapia with power shots upstairs and to the body as the
two mostly traded in close. Tapia had his moments as well landing
cleanly with solid shots but less frequently then his opponent. Ayala
continued to rip big shots to the body in round 3 as Tapia looked
to return to fighting on the outside. A cuffing shot to the back of
the head pulled Tapia down at 1:17 of the round. It was ruled to be
a slip. Tapia worked well in the opening half of round 4 with increased
movement and digging shots to the body. Ayala came in the second half
as both men traded punches. The two twice banged heads in round 4,
with neither man being cut. The close middle rounds saw each man have
his moments as Tapia had better success when moving and Ayala looked
solid on the inside. In the final thirty seconds of round 8, both
men frequently raised their hands to the crowd between exchanges.
Tapia likely won round 9 outworking Ayala and landing with the straight
right hand. Tapia went to the mat at 2:46 of the round from a slip.
Action was paused early in round 10 as a clash of heads opened a cut
on the top of Tapia’s head. They continued to trade into rounds 11
and 12, with Tapia working more consistently and Ayala working in
burst.
Tapia vs Ayala 2
About a year and a half after their first
hellacious battle, Paulie Ayala gets a second win over Johnny Tapia
in another wild brawl of a bout. Tapia wobbles Ayala in the opening
round and they proceed to trade bombs for several rounds. Tapia controls
the fight when boxing but gives in to too many exchanges in which
Ayala lands the better blows. After twelve more rounds, Ayala is once
again declared the winner by unanimous decision, and an enraged Tapia
has to be escorted out of the ring by security; meanwhile, his brother
in law punches Todd DuBoef of Top Rank.