Bob Case came home this past Saturday night to 52 messages awaiting him on his answering machine. Case, who is a confidant, advisor and close friend of Johnny Tapia, had been in San Francisco to watch the East-West Shrine Classic at Pac Bell Park. He had not yet heard about the tumultous weekend of Tapia, who he says is "like a son" to him.

In another volatile chapter of his turbulent life, Tapia would spend the weekend in critical condition at a Las Vegas hospital after falling at his home and losing consciousness early Saturday morning. Tapia, a five-time world champion, was put on a respirator and treated for head trauma.

This was just hours after he was charged with possessing drug paraphanalia. On Friday night, Tapia and his cousin were involved in a standoff with the police near Bullhead City, Arizona. The confrontation would end with the arrest of two men and with Tapia recieving a citation. Tapia's continuing battle with substance abuse is well chronicled, and despite what the reports say, with his history, the circumstances of his condition are left to question.

"I don't know what to say," Case told MaxBoxing late Saturday night from his home in Southern California. "I'm numb."

Case at that moment was making plans to make the four-hour drive to Las Vegas to be with the Tapias. Case was usually in close contact with the Tapias, playing various messages that were still on his answering machine from Tapia. The last one from him sounded a bit ominous as he seemed to be saying his farewell to Case. The recent events, while stunning, don't completely surprise him.

"The signs had been there for quite awhile," said Case. "But y'know, you just try to live one day at a time. Like I've always told Johnny, there's only two days of the week you don't worry about: yesterday, because it's already gone and tomorrow because it may never come. You live a day at a time and that's what I tried to teach Johnny. I always hoped things would clear up, but they didn't."

But as Case speculates, maybe Tapia, who's nicknamed 'Mi Vida Loca' (my crazy life) just couldn't overcome his past.

"I've never met anyone on this Earth, that know's what it's like to watch your mother murdered, no father and all these things. I can't imagine that," said Case, his voice barely above a whisper.

Case, who has known the Tapias for about eight years, quickly became one of the few people that was trusted by Tapia, who's coming off a decision loss to Marco Antonio Barrera in November. Despite the differences in age and culture, they share a common bond.

"We met at a fight," Case said. "As a boxing fan I was well aware of Johnny and being a recovering alcoholic myself, I had a special interest in his career. So we talked and he took a liking to me and the rest is history. We stayed in contact and supported each other."

On his road to sobriety, through all the twists and turns, Case was there as Tapia's sponsor and more importantly as his friend.

"I always tell people who think I helped Johnny that he helped me more in the relationship in a lot of areas where I needed help in my life," explains Case. "He was a role model for me and I mean that with everything I have in my heart. He helped me more than I helped him."

With his life hanging in the balance, Case knows better than to count him out. And no matter how this turns out, Case says he won't be angry with Tapia.

"I could never stay mad at him," he said. "Teresa and I used to always say he's a hard guy to stay mad at. And as long as there's one ounce of breath in him, there's a chance he could make it -- I wouldn't bet against him, he's been pronounced dead three times."

As of Sunday, Tapia's condition has been upgraded from critical to serious. Perhaps, Tapia, a fighter in every sense of the word, will climb off the canvas one more time. Everytime I've spoken to him in the past, Tapia would always ask that I say a prayer for him. On behalf of everyone, consider it done.

OSCAR NIGHT

It's great news for the industry that Oscar De La Hoya has decided to take a tune-up fight on May 3rd before his September rematch with Shane Mosley.

What isn't so great was the early reports of Yory Boy Campas as his opponent. I know this is 'the Golden Boy', but you wonder just how many pay-per-view buys this mismatch would do?

This would be the biggest discrepency in speed since Wile E. Coyote was in futile pursuit of the Roadrunner. At least the coyote never quit as his ACME apparatus kept malfunctioning on him. Campas has a questionable history of going when the going gets tough. Names like Carlos Bojorquez and Alex Bunema have also been tossed around. In all reality, this show should be on HBO. Regardless, it is good for the business of boxing to have De La Hoya fighting more than once this year.

SUGAR FIX

A source has told me that Shane Mosley still isn't that keen on the idea of settling for 'only' $4 million for his rematch against De La Hoya and has actually attained the phone number of one Don King to consult with him on the matter.

It says here, regardless of who represents Mosley, he won't be getting anymore than that $4 million and if King, somehow gets involved, that could be a deal breaker.

BABY JOE

It was no surprise to anyone in the business that heavyweight prospect (or is it suspect?) Joe Mesi was trying to break free from his promotional contract with Sugar Ray Leonard.

When he signed the deal last year, it was thought that he signed with SRL because of the guaranteed dates that Leonard had on ESPN. Now it seems that Mesi, with his box-office appeal and now at the stage of his career where he is above the ESPN2-level fights, no longer needs SRL.

And it's safe to say that a white heavyweight who can draw big will be worth a pretty penny on the open market.

FINAL FLURRIES

Brian Viloria won another 12-round decision on Friday night, but he seems to be going through some growing pains as he is stuck between his amateur style and adjusting to the pro game. Viloria seems to be at his best on the inside but spends too much time hung up on the outside not doing too much of anything... DaVarryl Williamson will never be a great heavyweight, but you gotta give him this after his win over Robert Wiggins, he is a gamer who gets the most out of his limited abilities... Anyone see 'Telefutura' this past Friday night? Justo Sencion, has to be the biggest stinker in the game right now. I tried and tried to watch his whole fight against Eleazer Contreras but could only take eight rounds. I was pleasently surprised to find out that he ended up on the short end of a 12-round split verdict. They don't come any more reluctant than this guy.