Undefeated prospect Glen Tapia (8-0, 5 KO) of Passaic, NJ is ready to put on a show when he faces Eberto Medina (5-5, 1 KO) of Chinchipe, Ecuador in a six-round junior-middleweight bout at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ on Saturday, March 26.
Tapia vs. Medina will support the Yuriorkis Gamboa vs. Jorge Solis world featherweight championship bout, which will be televised by HBO. The card will be promoted by Top Rank Inc.
Tapia, 21, is hoping to outdo his last performance in Atlantic City in October against Quinton Whitaker. Tapia was sluggish with jet lag after arriving from the Philippines a week earlier, where he spent a month as pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao’s chief sparring partner. Tapia suffered a broken jaw and needed to have his jaw wired shut for five weeks, but still toughed it out for a unanimous decision win.
“There were so many things wrong and I feel like I didn’t entertain the crowd enough. Now I feel like I have to do double time,” said Tapia, who is promoted by Top Rank and Pound for Pound Promotions. “It’s good that it happened to me because now I know that I never want to feel like that again. I’m training harder and you guys are going to see the result.
“The doctors tell me that my jaw is stronger than it was before, and I feel like I’m better than I was before all around. Now I’m just ready to get in the ring already and fight.”
Tapia’s opponent Medina, aged 27, scored the biggest win of his career in 2006 when he defeated Andrzej Fonfara, then 4-0, by a unanimous decision. Fonfara now holds the WBC Youth light heavyweight title.
Also in action will be Tapia’s stablemate “King” Jorge Diaz of New Brunswick, NJ challenging Teon Kennedy of Philadelphia, PA for Kennedy’s USBA super bantamweight title.