Keith Tapia
| Keith Tapia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | Machine Gun | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight(s) | Cruiserweight | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reach | 80 in (203 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Puerto Rican | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
September 29, 1990 Bronx, New York |
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| Stance | Orthodox | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boxing record | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total fights | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins by KO | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Losses | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Keith Tapia (born September 29, 1990) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. He was born in Bronx, New York, where he lived his childhood as part of the large Nuyorican community; he began boxing there and represented the United States for few international tournaments, in the process winning bronze at the 2006 Cadet World Championships. In 2007, Tapia appealed to his Puerto Rican heritage and ethnicity and changed his Olympic nationality, representing Puerto Rico until his amateur retirement in 2011. Under the Puerto Rican flag, he won gold at the 2007 AIBA Cadet World Championships and other international tournaments, while winning the heavyweight national championship locally. On November 18, 2011, Tapia made his professional debut, now boxing out of Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Tapia was introduced to boxing while living in New York, when his parents took him to a gymnasium in order to control his weight and quickly employed his energy excess to establish a high-intensity training regime. He developed an admiration for the boxing styles of Wilfredo Gómez and Muhammad Ali, which influenced his style and created a preference towards technical boxing, instead of brawling and pursing a knockout punch.
In 2007, Tapia decided to represent Puerto Rico in AIBA competition based on being a full-blood Puerto Rican despite being born in New York, with both of his parents originating from there. Upon moving to the archipelago from New York, Tapia joined Club Diamante and was trained by Ricardo "Ricky" Márquez, who employed his high energy and developed a six-day-per-week regime, including sparring, motivational conferences and running throughout in panoramic locales such as el Morro in Old San Juan. Tapia's first competition for the Puerto Rico national cadet boxing team was the 2007 AIBA Cadet World Boxing Championships. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Joseph Arguello of the United States by points, 29:11. In the semifinals, Tapia advanced over Adulallev Rashad (30:9) of Azerbaijan. In the finals, he faced Smolin Segey of Ukraine, defeating his with scores of 17:6 to win the gold medal. At his first major senior class tournament shortly after turning 17 years old, the 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships, he was upset early at heavyweight with 201 lbs heavyweight limit by John M'Bumba of France, who went on to win the bronze medal. On October 8, 2009, Tapia participated in a youth dual against a selection from Canada, defeating Matt Flynn by abandonment in four rounds. On September 18, 2009, Tapia participated in a double-header against talent from the Ironbound Boxing Club based in Newark, New Jersey. His opponent was Lisandro Tupete, whom he outclassed throughout the contest to the point of at one time pinning him against the rope and almost pushing him out of the ring.
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