Overview

"""A gritty, engrossing, and concise account of a boxer's meteoric career and tortured personal life.""-Kirkus Reviews ""If I wake up, I know I'm a success. The day I don't wake up, I know I'll be home. I have one foot on this earth and one foot has crossed over. I didn't just die, I lived.""-Johnny Tapia...the ghost of Johnny Tapia lives on""Mi Vida Loca"" (My Crazy Life) was Johnny Tapia's nickname and his reason for being. Haunted by the brutal murder of his beloved mother when he was a child, fighting and drugs gave him the escape he craved-and he did both with gusto. In The Ghost Of Johnny Tapia, Paul Zanon, with the help of Tapia's widow Teresa, tells the harrowing and unforgettable story of a boxing genius who couldn't, in the end, defeat his demons.The Ghost of Johnny Tapia is the second in the Hamilcar Noir series. Hamilcar Noir is ""Hard-Hitting True Crime"" that blends boxing and true crime, featuring riveting stories captured in high-quality prose, with cover art inspired by classic pulp novels.From the Foreword:""Johnny had incredible heart, was such a sweet man, but was also tormented. He had two sides to him. The sweetest, nicest guy, but then the other side which could probably kill you. He was tortured with his addictions, but Johnny was always pure emotion in that ring.""-Sammy 'The Red Rocker' Hagar, Musician"

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9781949590159

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Reviews

The narrative describes the arc of Tapia's professional life in economical but effective detail...Zanon knows the sport well enough to keep these bouts intriguing...with a good deal of momentum and little sentimentality. The resulting portrait is that of a deeply weak and flawed man who could nevertheless exhibit a real zest for living. A gritty, engrossing, and concise account of a boxer's meteoric career and tortured personal life. -Kirkus Reviews

The narrative describes the arc of Tapia's professional life in economical but effective detail...Zanon knows the sport well enough to keep these bouts intriguing...with a good deal of momentum and little sentimentality. The resulting portrait is that of a deeply weak and flawed man who could nevertheless exhibit a real zest for living. A gritty, engrossing, and concise account of a boxer's meteoric career and tortured personal life. --Kirkus Reviews The Ghost of Johnny Tapia is a short, sharp and entertaining read...there is more than enough there to capture the craziness, the charisma and the talent of a very unique man. In particular it gives a fascinating insight into the tragedies of his young life which gave rise to the demons he could never fully overcome. --All Sports Books Reviews Right from the opening page it grabs you in, and doesn't let get go until you have completed the book, you know every word written is meant to be there. --Fight Post

The narrative describes the arc of Tapia's professional life in economical but effective detail...Zanon knows the sport well enough to keep these bouts intriguing...with a good deal of momentum and little sentimentality. The resulting portrait is that of a deeply weak and flawed man who could nevertheless exhibit a real zest for living. A gritty, engrossing, and concise account of a boxer's meteoric career and tortured personal life. --Kirkus Reviews

Author Information

"Paul Zanon has written eight books, with almost all of them reaching the number-one bestselling spot in their respective categories on Amazon. He has co-hosted boxing shows on Talk Sport and has been a pundit on London Live and Boxnation. He is a regular contributor to Boxing Monthly, Hannibal Boxing, and a number of other publications. Paul is member of the British Boxing Writers Club. For almost forty years, Sammy Hagar (Foreword) has been one of rock music's most dynamic and prolific artists. From breaking into the industry with the seminal hard rock band Montrose to his multiplatinum solo career to his ride as the front man of Van Halen, the “Red Rocker” has set the tone for some of the greatest rock anthems ever written with songs like ""I Can't Drive 55,"" ""Right Now,"" and ""Why Can't This Be Love."" He’s earned the highest respect of the music industry with a Grammy Award and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside Van Halen and is currently on his fourth platinum run with the super group Chickenfoot. Along his journey, Hagar has also become a dedicated philanthropist, a New York Times best-selling author and auspicious entrepreneur. Hagar contributed a foreword for The Ghost of Jonny Tapia (Hamilcar Publications 2019), a biography of his friend and International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Johnny Tapia. Hagar's father boxed at bantamweight, featherweight, and lightweight, fighting under a variety of names, including Bobby Hagar, Bobby Burns, and Cotton Burns."

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