Bernabe Concepcion: Lamb To The Slaughter
Allow me to be blunt. Bernabe Concepcion (28-3-1, 15 KOs), or Abe, as Concepcion is fondly called by his peers and people who are close to him, is a lamb to the slaughter. On July 10th, Abe will face what would be perhaps the toughest assignment of his young career – wrench the WBO featherweight title from the undefeated Juan Manuel Lopez of Puerto Rico (28-0, 25 KOs). Abe is a talented fighter no doubt, but one that has still a long way to go before sharing a ring with elite competition.
In terms of opposition, Juanma holds the most impressive resume that includes big wins over boxing legend Gerry Penalosa and hard-hitting Daniel Ponce de Leon. Abe, on the other hand, only had Steven Luevano in his list of significant fights, albeit he lost that fight due to disqualification. Luevano also suffered a knockout defeat in the hands of Juanma.
Lopez is 5-0 with 4 KOs and a UD victory in his last five fights. On the other hand, Concepcion is 4-1 with just a lone KO victory and 3 fights reaching the distance, all in his favor.The fashion of their latest victories should give you an idea on how the fight would probably fare. Power belongs to Lopez. Rate of opposition also belongs to Lopez. Needless to say, all indications note that everything is stacked against the Filipino challenger.
And I am not the only one who believes that Abe bit off a lot more than he could chew. Several boxing scribes who I know personally know yet chose to remain anonymous felt that Abe does not have enough skills and power and the savvy to beat the far more superior Lopez.
I feel that Top Rank made a huge mistake in pitting Lopez and Concepcion together. Abe could have fought a couple of B-level fighters before he jumped on the gun and try his luck against the top tier contenders.
I will root for Abe, no doubt in my mind about that. But I won’t be surprised if he gets himself decked on the canvas and remain there for some time come fight night.
6 comments:
Yes this is a mismatch but I bet Abe is thanking God that he even has this opportunity and not fighting for some meaningless asian regional title or the OPBF. That is one positive way to look at it. Another positive to his mismatch is the REAL money he will earn from this. He will probably make more losing than he would being a victorious nobody fighting for some asian-pacific international whatever-the-hell title. So good for Abe. I wouldn't pass this opportunity either - with 30 plus fights under my belt I would be glad to leave for America for REAL competition. He has done it before and probably doesnt ever want to go back to the PI to fight for some asian-pacific international whatever.
Good points there. But what I am driving at is the powers that be could have build up on Abe first. He is not yet ready, for me at least. The money is there, true. But still, I believe that Abe would fare better in the future if he fights two B fighters to build his confidence up and put some experience in him.
Juanma's weakness is his stamina...Bernabe must try to apply constant pressure throughout the fight, weathering the constant battering that he is almost expected to receive from Juanma. Then in the later rounds when Juanma is gassed out, Bernabe should go for the kill.
Juanma's weakness is his stamina...Bernabe must try to apply constant pressure throughout the fight, weathering the constant battering that he is almost expected to receive from Juanma. Then in the later rounds when Juanma is gassed out, Bernabe should go for the kill.
The question is can Abe weather the storm? Even the durable Gerry Penalosa retired from the constant assault Juanma was giving him. You are right about the stamina though. I saw the Rogers Mtagwa fight and Juanma almost lost that one.
That said, I do not think Abe can weather the storm or go for the kill in the later rounds if he does. He is going to be battered and bruised and weak by the Juanma gasses out. Still, I hope for a Filipino victory.
Very true... Abe Concepcion is being fed to the lions. But upsets do happen. It takes a great deal of adversity to get that respect. Concepcion grabbed this opportunity and will do everything to get through this triumphant.
Even Pacquiao was overlooked in the first Barrera fight. He was also thought to be the "Lamb" back then!
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