He was born in Bronx, New York, where he lived his childhood as part of the large Nuyorican community; he began boxing there and represented the United States for few international tournaments, in the process winning bronze at the 2006 Cadet World Championships.

Tapia was introduced to boxing while living in New York, when his parents took him to a gymnasium in order to control his weight and quickly employed his energy excess to establish a high-intensity training regime.

Upon moving to the archipelago from New York, Tapia joined Club Diamante and was trained by Ricardo "Ricky" Márquez, who employed his high energy and developed a six-day-per-week regime, including sparring, motivational conferences and running throughout in panoramic locales such as el Morro in Old San Juan.

[7] On a single-night Puerto Rico national team meeting, Tapia won his scheduled contest with Michael Narváez by walk over.

Tapia made his professional debut on November 18, 2011, defeating Andrew Kuilan in the undercard of a Promociones Miguel Cotto card held in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Twenty-one days later, Tapia returned in the undercard of a Universal Promotion's Team Puerto Rico event against Ramón Adorno, winning in the first round after his opponent's corner submitted the contest by throwing a towel into the ring.