Keith Tapia on the rise following previous outing

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Keith TapiaUp and coming cruiserweight prospect Keith Tapia (17-0 11 KO’s) was featured on the last  PBC “Toe to Toe Tuesday” card on Fox Sports 1.  He won a tough 10 round decision versus hard hitting Garrett Wilson (16-10, 1 9KOs) in a exciting event with both guys throwing and taking big shots. 

Tapia almost going down on one of the shots Garrett landed, but Tapia showed heart by throwing right back after he regained his balance and started firing back at Wilson- putting Wilson on his back foot.  The young Tapia showed tons of skill using his jab but also showed a little vulnerability as he took a lot of shots that, in my opinion, he didn’t have to take.  

After his performance, he spoke with Thaboxingvoice’s Nestor Gibbs to discuss what took place in the ring. He first spoke on the hard shot he took from Wilson that left him wobbly in the second round of the fight, saying “He hit hard, but I can’t complain. This is boxing, so when he caught me I had to get mines back. He caught me, but I got mine back in a combination!”

The fight was a great watch and Tapia surely had the crowd buzzing and that is saying something because he was one of the first undercards of the night. If you have ever been to a live fight then you will know that during undercards the arena is usually not as crowded or loud, but during the Tapia fight, you would have thought the arena was full due to the crowds “OOOOOO’s and AHHH’s”. Tapia spoke on fighting in front of the crowd in Trenton New Jersey saying “I would love to come to Jersey thank you Jersey for having me thank you!”

This was surely Tapia’s toughest fight, however, I think he made it hard on himself.  He was in the pocket too much instead of establishing distance with his jab and working off that. He switches his stance at will so it shows sharp ring intelligence.  He has plenty room to grow, though, he is an exciting fighter and he is SUPER energetic in and out of the ring, so he can go far if he keeps winning because is very marketable. But if he fights an elite fighter the way he fought Wilson, he will surely get laid out.  Let’s hope he was playing down to the competition Tuesday night because he has tremendous potential in a growing division that is yearning for an American marketable presence.