Johnny Tapia's boys do him proud

Any good dad would want his kids to have an easier time than he did.

When it comes to professional boxing debuts, Johnny Tapia’s kids had just that on Friday night. 

Almost 38 years after their legendary father fought to a four-round draw in his pro debut, Johnny Tapia Jr. and his younger brother Nicco began their pro careers with victories on a card promoted their mother, Teresa, at Cananas Night Club.

Johnny Jr. defeated Leon Miles Jr., better known as his online influencer handle of Suede the Plug God, by first-round knockout.

Nicco Tapia at least got a workout, scoring a knockdown en route to a victory by lopsided, unanimous four-round decision against Andres Parra — also known, apparently, as Ace the 1.

Tapia Jr., heavily tattooed like his father but in sharp contrast a lanky southpaw, dropped Miles with a combination, then felled him moments later with a body shot that had the influencer writhing on the canvas. 

The bout was over at 1:56 of the first. 

“It’s an honor to be here,” Tapia Jr. said. “It’s an honor to continue the tradition (established by his late father, a five-time world champion). We’ve got to keep his legacy going.”

Of the decisive body shot, he said, “That’s something we’ve worked on … (Rice) was keeping his hands up, waiting for my jab. He opened his elbows, and that was the perfect time.”

Tapia Jr. weighed 152 pounds. Rice, of New Orleans, weighed 154.

Nicco Tapia, who, like his brother and unlike his father, fights out of a left-handed stance, found Parra to be an awkward but durable opponent. 

In the second round, whether as a result of Tapia’s punches or simply of the young Albuquerque fighter’s pressure, essentially sat down on one of the ring ropes. Referee David Rios properly ruled it a knockdown.

At the end of four rough-and-tumble rounds, all three judges scored the bout 40-35 for Tapia. Parra, of Sun Valley, California, is 0-2.

As did his brother, Nicco Tapia paid tribute to his father.

“I know my dad’s proud,” he said. “I feel him with me.”

In other featured bouts:

In what became the main event, Albuquerque heavyweight Cody East floored KeShawn Jackson three times in the third round en route to a victory by TKO.

A clearly exhausted Jackson, who’s from Kalamazoo, Michigan (elevation 784 feet) and who took the bout on extremely short notice, simply went to a knee on knockdown No. 3.

East improved to 7-1 with five KOs. Jackson is 1-9-1, eight of his losses coming by knockout.

Albuquerque prospect Yoruba Moreu (3-0, three KOs), 120 pounds, dropped Jonah Cahill (1-4, one KO), of Kalamazoo, with a paralyzing right-hand body shot that ended the bout a 1:34 of the first. 

Moreu, who was fighting as a professional in his hometown for the first time, said he’s eager to do it again — in particular on another Tapia promotions card. He trained at the elder Tapia’s gym as a kid.

“Oh, man, I definitely want to do it again,” he said. “Especially on a Tapia promotion. That’s my dude.”

All four of Cahill’s defeats have come by first-round KO.

In a co-feature matching MMA fighters in their boxing debuts, John Makdessi caught Felipe Chavez with a picture-perfect right hand that brought a sudden end to the bout at 1:18 of the second round.

The two had fought on relatively even terms in the first round and into the second before the Makdessi right hand turned out the lights.

Makdessi, of Halifax, Nova Scotia by way of Phoenix, weighed 166.4 pounds. Chavez, of Socorro by way of Albuquerque, weighed 169.

On the undercard:

Nicholas Joseph, 296 pounds, New Orleans, defeated Samuel Jones Jr., 309, Greenville, North Carolina, by first-round TKO.

“Presha,” real name Jaiden Gappy, 174 pounds, an online influencer from Tampa, Florida, defeated fellow Floridian “Oh Mikey,” real name Loren Higgs, 175, by brutal first-round knockout. 

Joseph hurt Jones with virtually everything he threw, particular those to Jones’ beyond- ample midsection. Jones sank to the canvas under Joseph’s assault, got up at the count of nine, then fell again. Referee Sid Ware signaled the end at 2 minutes, 18 seconds.

Joseph is 2-1 (two knockouts). It was Jones’ pro debut.

In the night’s first bout, the two influencers went toe-to-toe until Gappy landed a hard, clean shot to the head. Higgs staggered back, only to absorb a powerful right that dropped him and kept him on the canvas for several minutes afterward. 

Higgs fought despite a grotesquely swollen lower right leg, the result, he’d said at Thursday’s weigh-in, of a tumor.

It was the pro boxing debut for both men.