Tapia was born and raised in Passaic, New Jersey to Dominican immigrants from Santo Domingo, DR.

Glen has a daughter named Isabella Nouvel Tapia with his partner Carolin Francheli.

Tapia suffered his first loss on December 7, 2013, in a brutal fight against James Kirkland in which he was knocked out.

This fight prompted Tapia to go back to the drawing board, which included replacing his trainer.

Tapia scored a second-round knockout over Mike Ruiz on the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito undercard at the Madison Square Garden on December 3, 2011.