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Former boxing champion Johnny Tapia says that he was declared clinically dead last month when he was admitted to a local hospital after collapsing at his northwest Las Vegas home.
In an interview with James Brown for "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel," Tapia said he has entered a drug rehab facility in Southern California, the 12th time he has done so.
Tapia, who turns 36 on Thursday, was rushed to University Medical Center shortly after midnight Jan. 11 after collapsing at his nine-bedroom Goldstone Avenue home.
He said in the interview it was the fourth time he has been declared clinically dead.
"I don't got no more chances," said Tapia, who has a 52-3-2 record in a 15-year pro career and had world titles at 115, 118 and 126 pounds.
"Johnny Tapia can't do nothing wrong no more, because he'll die. I'm going to go. The next time I die, I'm out. I think it's over. I'm not going to be able to come back this next time. My nine lives are over. This last time was just terrible, terrible, terrible."
On Jan. 10, hours before his collapse, Tapia was involved in a standoff in Golden Valley, Ariz., with Mohave County sheriffs trying to arrest his cousin, Raymond Whiting. Tapia was charged by summons with felony possession of drug paraphernalia, but the charges have been dropped.
Tapia's wife, Teresa, drove to Arizona that day to pick him up, and she told HBO he appeared to be having no physical problems after arriving home, saying he was "having conversations with everybody." But then he became ill.
"He came out of the bathroom after vomiting, and the next thing I know he kind of puts his hand on his chest, his eyes rolled back, he passed out and didn't regain consciousness," Teresa Tapia told HBO. "We had to call 911. He didn't know how close he came to losing his life -- again."
Johnny Tapia said he traces his problems to the murder of his mother, Virginia, in May 1975. She was stabbed 22 times, raped and left for dead, and died a few days later. Johnny was 8 years old at the time, and said the emotional wounds have never healed.
Virginia Tapia's murder went unsolved until 1999, when it was discovered the man who had killed her had died in a 1983 automobile accident.
Johnny Tapia turned to drug use, developing a cocaine habit. He referred to the drug as "my mistress" in the HBO interview. Teresa Tapia said Johnny overdosed on their wedding night in 1992 and was declared clinically dead that night.
"I love my mom and I miss her," an emotional Tapia told Brown. "It's just a struggle here. When I'm using drugs and drinking, I don't think of it."
Asked by Brown if he wants to live, Tapia said, "Yes-no." Pressed to clarify his answer, Tapia said he wants to live for his wife and sons (John Jr., 10, and Lorenzo, 2), but "sometimes, I just want to go."
Tapia said he thinks his current rehabilitation stint will work because it is the first time he has willingly sought treatment. He said he had been ordered to go the previous 11 times.(LVRJ) |
