Dan Rafael, ESPN Senior Writer 10y

New opponent for Tapia set

Exciting junior middleweight Glen Tapia will remain on the Gennady Golovkin-Daniel Geale undercard on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Passaic, New Jersey’s Tapia, 24, was supposed to face New Yorker Boyd Melson but Melson suffered an apparent torn left rotator cuff injury in sparring last Tuesday and dropped out of the fight. But Top Rank has secured a new opponent to face Tapia in an eight-rounder.

He will face Salim Larbi (19-5-2, 7 KOs), 27, of France. Although 3-4 in his last seven bouts, he is experienced, having lost a 12-round decision to prospect Jack Culcay in his last fight in April and having also suffered losses to Canadian contender Antonin Decarie and former world title challenger Lukas Konecny in an interim title fight.

Tapia (21-1, 13 KOs) is seeking his second win in a row since starting to train with Hall of Famer Freddie Roach in the wake of his rough sixth-round knockout loss to James Kirkland in December.

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