Tapia

An HBO sports documentary of the infamous Johnny Tapia

and his personal struggles alongside his boxing career.
The documentary opens with Tapia walking in the desert,
surrounded by nothing but open land. This scene is also
one of the closing images of the documentary, showing
the audience that what the documentary contains led him
to where he was.
The establishing
shot is used to
portray the
bleak wilderness
of New Mexico
and provides a
correlation
between the
isolation in both
the desert and
Tapias life.

The
documentary opens up with a narration of Tapias earlier
life, including the death of both his mother and father,
events that heavily shaped him later in adulthood. The
camera then shifts to the first person narration of Tapia
himself as he describes the effects and devastation these
events caused.
The use of a stark
focus light provides
the audience with
just enough light to
see Tapia and the
ring, ensuring that
all focus is on him

The focus then moves to how this fuelled Johnnys boxing

career as the narrator outlines his first fights over archive
footage. The documentary also includes the real
commentary of the presenters who were at the fight,
making the audience feel as if they were actually
witnessing it. However the tone then shifts as the narrator
goes into the darker side of Johnnys personal life, which
included gang
affiliation and drug
use, leading to his
first arrest.
The Polaroid picture of
a young Johnny
emphasizes how
young he was when
the trouble all started.
The use of an old
photo is to gain an
emotional reaction
from the audience.

The stint in jail caused a three-year stall in Tapias career

and upon release his only source of income was to
compete in secret backyard fights. Johnny speaks of his
battle with drugs openly on camera and discusses how
exercise helped him deal with the withdrawal. This lead to
Tapias second attempt at boxing.

The slight low

angle shot puts
the power on
Tapia, which is
appropriate in his
winning moment.
The archive
footage captures
what a
reconstruction

Tapia made a full and well received comeback that was

prominent within the documentary. It included him off
screen, watching the archive footage and reliving his
greatest moments, such as winning a worldwide
championship.

This sealed the success of Tapias comeback but also lead

to a boxing rivalry with up and coming newcomer Danny
Romero. The rivalry was full of animosity and tension as
Romero goaded Tapia and eventually lead to one of the
most anticipated fights in history. The talk of the fight had
the gangs around Albuquerque, New Mexico divided

leading to a fully armed police force as the fight took

place.
The tension for Tapia was portrayed through the real time
commentary and his own input from his interview. The
result of the fight hung in a balance as no clear winner
was found. The suspension used by the documentary held
The twoshotsplit
The
establish
screen
es the
increased
rivalry
as
the
tension
well
as
of the
portrayin as
audience
g theas
well
actual
guaranteein
g a shot of
the winner
or losers
reaction.

the audience as the scores were decided.

As Tapias win was announced his narration explained

what winning the fight actually did for him as a person and
a boxer as he stood his ground.

However the documentary then changed its tone as

Johnny went into fame his past demons did too. With his
new image he reopened his mothers unsolved murder
case and within a few months they had solved it. The
person, who he had expected all along, was indeed his
mothers killer. The closure for Tapia was not there
however as the individual had died 8 years previously,
before he could be brought to justice. This lead Tapia to
speak in his interview about how he had suffered from
severe mental health issues and previous suicide
attempts. However, still reveling in the news of his
mothers case, an unbeaten Tapia had to face his next
fight, which happened to be the world championships.
The close up
captures the true
emotion on
Tapias face a he
describes such
tragic events. The
dim lighting
provides a
somber mood,
which is sealed by
the lack of sound.

The championships lead to Tapias first major loss in the

boxing world and he described how it wasnt the loosing
that upset him, it was knowing he should have won. The
documentary used real time TV interviews with boxing
managers to show the shock his loss was. However this
was not what would shock them the most. After more
major losses Tapia described how he accidentally
overdosed, leaving him in a coma. To make matters worse
his brother and nephew tragically died on their way to visit
him, an accident, he described that should never have
happened.

Sadly for Tapia, the tragedy did not end there as the drugs
found on him at his overdose site landed him back in jail
for 3 more years. Upon release at 43, his passion for
fighting had not ceased and he set out to train and
continue boxing.

The
focus on
the two
in such a
large
crowd
highlight
s the
close
bond
that they

The
lighting
focus on
his torso
portrays
the aging
that his
stint in
prison
caused

Along the way there were a few ups and downs but for
Johnny himself he described that the moment he found
out that his real father was alive, that was the point he
decided to hold his final fight.

After completion and victory he set up a gym in retirement

and trained boys who were in situations like he was.

The documentary begins to end and we are faced with

Johnny walking through the empty desert in the same shot

The
camera
shift
from
seeing
Johnny in
just the
interview
ring or
boxing
ring is
refreshin
g for the
audience
and
reinforce
s the
new
change

as the opening.
The low
angle
portrays
Tapia in a
powerful
way,
conveyin
g to the
audience
how he
feels his
life has
become
more
positive.

Although a bitter-sweet documentary the final words bring

the audience back to the reality of what living such a life
can cause.

The memoriam the Johnny Tapia was respectful and his

legacy still holds in the boxing world today.