Boxing: Tapia's June 8 card has some heavy hitters; Las Crucen to represent U.S. at U19 World Championships

May 14—As troubled and chaotic as Johnny Tapia's life so often was, his acts of kindness and generosity were many and well documented.

As for his love for Albuquerque and New Mexico, his hometown and home state, that was never in question.

In that vein, promoter Teresa Tapia has themed her June 8 boxing/bare knuckle card at Isleta Resort & Casino as "Gloves On Grudges Gone."

"It was always near and dear to Johnny to try to do what he could to curb violence ..." Tapia said of her late, five-time world champion husband. "That was always his mission when he was here, and I thought, we can all talk about it or we can do something."

The June 8 card has some of New Mexico's major players involved.

Former UNM basketball star Kenny Thomas is a partner in the promotion. Welterweight Josh Torres (26-7-2, 15 knockouts) and featherweight Jason Sanchez (16-5, 9 KOs), two of Albuquerque's most successful pro boxers, are scheduled to compete.

Heavyweight Cody East (4-1, four KOs) and light heavyweight Donald Sanchez (5-3, three KOs) are better known to most New Mexico combat-sports fans for their exploits in MMA, or of late in Sanchez's case, bare knuckle. But they're scheduled for the June 8 card as well.

No opponents have been announced.

'It's a very, very stacked card, and we're blessed to have them all fighting for the cause," Tapia said.

Tapia said the bare-knuckle portion of the card will be conducted in cooperation with the BKFC, the bare-knuckle promotion that has staged five cards in New Mexico in the past 20 months.

The bare-knuckle card, she said, will be populated with amateur fighters.

That initially was what she and BKFC President David Feldman had hoped to do on the Jan. 27 BKFC Prospect Series at Revel Entertainment Center, but the New Mexico Athletic Commission's rules for amateur bare knuckle had not been approved at that point.

FREE AND CLEAR: New Mexico Athletic Commission chairman Joe Chavez said on Tuesday that Tapia has fully met all her financial responsibilities after her ill-fated February 2023 card at the Rio Rancho Events Center.

Several fighters, including Torres, Sanchez, and Sanchez's brother Jose Luis, were not fully paid for months after the card. Tapia said it had been the responsibility of Kansas promoter Joe Kelly to pay most of the fighters, but Kelly, a partner in the promotion, stopped payment on checks he'd written the night of the card.

The NMAC had no authority over Kelly since it was Tapia's promoter's license that was used that night.

"Everything happens for a reason, and I learned a lesson," Tapia said. "You put everything in writing, and that's what we do now."

JOS THE BOSS: To the surprise of no one, Las Cruces' Joscelyn Olayo-Muñoz has secured a spot on USA Boxing's Youth High Performance Team and earned the opportunity to represent the U.S. at the 2024 World Boxing U19 World Championships this fall (site and exact dates to be determined).

Olayo-Muñoz, a 15-time national champion, has just returned from a USA Boxing evaluation camp in Chula Vista, California, after which she was named to the team at 106 pounds.

TCL: New Mexico boxers Samantha Ginithan and Sharahya Moreu continue to impress in Team Combat League competition.

On April 25, Las Cruces' Ginithan, fighting for fellow Las Crucen Austin Trout's Houston Hitmen, took two rounds from the Orlando Vipers' Marissa Mills-Giles. Ginithan, a two-time Golden Gloves national champion, is 4-0 in TCL competition.

On May 2, Albuquerque's Moreu, fighting for the Philly Smoke, won her one-round fight against Logan Holler of the Atlanta Attack.

Moreu is 2-1 in TCL competition, having split two rounds with former world champion Erica Annabella Farias of the LA Elite on April 10.