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‘Rafael Concepcion’
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By Al Bernstein August 18th, 2009 All Boxing Articles
 This weekend, I hosted a pay per view telecast headlined by the WBA Interim Super Flyweight title match, featuring Nonito Donaire vs. Rafael Concepcion.
Everything that happened in the days before the match and in the first round suggested that Donaire, a rising star and potential superstar, was going to provide a dominant win that would further market himself.
Concepcion was rumored to be having terrible making weight, and, in fact came in a whopping 4 ½ pounds over the 115 pound limit. That did not bode well for his conditioning for the fight and it made an already motivated Donaire more angry and he vowed to beat Concepcion no matter what his weight.
Concepcion was fined part of his purse and Donaire received half that fine—but the Donaire camp did not demand that Concepcion try hard to make the 115 pounds. They were worried about a replay of the Joan Guzman-Nate Campbell fight of last year, when Guzman came in over the weight and tried to lose the weight, but was too weak to fight.
This pay per view had been set up a star vehicle for Donaire and Nonito and his management did not want his fight canceled.
The fight went on and true to his word, Donaire came out smoking. He was so dominant in the first two minutes that it looked like a monstrous mismatch. Conception had lost the year before to Jorge Arce in a war and Arce at that point had somewhat diminished skills.
If Donaire fought Arce he would be a prohibitive favorite. So, common sense told us that Concepcion was not in Donaire’s league—and round one was proving the point. More...
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By Richard Eberline August 16th, 2009 All Boxing Results
The world's top flyweight is now in the running for that same position at super flyweight after Nonito Donaire handled the jump up to 115 pounds by outboxing Rafael Concepcion last night at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas, NV.
At stake was the Interim WBA super fly crown, which Concepcion held at one point last year, and the Panamanian made every effort to make Donaire get into the trenches as Concepcion's natural size advantage was maximized after coming in more than four pounds above the super flyweight limit.
Concepcion might not have been able to assume the title even if he won the bout due to the weight overage but Donaire had no such limitation and fought a textbook bout, taking advantage of his edge in experience and quickness to outbox his bigger foe.
The busier style of Concepcion made it close but in the end, the judges favored the accuracy of Donaire, who was awarded a UD via scores of 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113. More...
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By Richard Eberline August 15th, 2009 All Boxing Previews
IBF light fly kingpin Nonito Donaire heads up to super flyweight tonight at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas, NV, contending for the Interim WBA crown against Panama's Rafael Concepcion.
Donaire, 21-1 (14), is coming off three title defenses of the IBF strap he won by expertly dismantling Aussie bomber Vic Darchinyan two years ago and the Filipino stylist should be able to handle the challenge of Concepcion with equal dexterity.
Concepcion, 13-3 (8), won the Interim WBA super fly title by gunning down previously undefeated AJ Banal a year ago but was stopped in the ninth in his next bout during a slugfest with Mexico's Jorge Arce, losing the interim belt in the process.
The Panama City man regained his footing with an eight rounds points verdict over aging ex-WBO minimumweight boss Kermin Guardia in February but will have to pull off a career best performance if he is to overcome the higher skilled Donaire.
The chief support bout features WBO feather champ Steven Luevano, 36-1-1 (15), meeting the challenge of WBC International beltholder Bernabe Concepcion, 29-1-1 (16), in what should be a good contest.
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By Al Bernstein August 5th, 2009 All Boxing Articles
The relationship between mixed martial arts and boxing has had an intriguing evolution in the past decade.
The boxing establishment has viewed MMA with equal parts ambivalence, hostility, envy and sometimes grudging respect. The MMA world has sometimes seen boxing as a kindly old uncle that you respect for its past, but snicker a bit at its present state.
From time to time there has been open hostility and ridicule of boxing by MMA moguls, but that has abated in the last several years.
For many of the “old guard” in boxing, MMA is scoffed at and treated like a barbaric undertaking that is without skill. The members of this old guard passes judgment on the sport of MMA without ever really bothering to learn more about it.
To suggest that there is not skill in mixed martial arts is as absurd as suggesting that courage is not an integral ingredient in both sports. While it is edgy and violent, MMA is also filled with nuances.
I have hosted MMA shows on television, one on Showtime and several others on pay per view or regional cable. To prepare for the first MMA show I ever did, I watched hours and hours of video and was able to pick the brain of one of the best analysts in the sport, Stephen Quadros.
Stephen baby-sat me through my Showtime MMA experience. What I learned from that experience was that MMA is a sport that demands that it’s athletes have at least some level of skill at many disciplines, if they are to reach the upper echelon of fighters.
I’ve enjoyed every one of my MMA announcing experiences and found that the fighters and fans will welcome someone associated with boxing as long as they are not guilty of either of these two things: a.) Pretending they are MMA experts, or b.) Pretending they like MMA, when they really don’t. More...
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By Bruce Dingo July 27th, 2008 All Boxing Results
We start this weekend's Asia report with a good show at the Coliseum in boxing mad Cebu City, Philippines where it was title fight fury in the lower weights on Saturday night.
The main event saw Rafael "El Torito" Concepcion, 11-2-1 (7), turn a maiden voyage outside his native Panama into a successful Philippines excursion by putting the first loss onto the record of local hero AJ "Bazooka" Banal, 17-1-1 (14), and win the Interim WBA Super Flyweight title in the process.
In a thrilling battle of southpaws, the stakes were raised considerably in the ninth when Banal lost a point for straying low but the real action took place in the tenth as Concepcion nailed his Filipino rival with a perfect right hand that forced Banal to take a knee while he was counted out at 2:35 of the tenth round.
The vacant WBO Oriental Bantamweight title was up for grabs on the undercard, but after less than six minutes of combat, local veteran Michael "Bruce Lee" Domingo, 36-14-2 (15), decided matters in brutal fashion as the 28 year old crushed Indonesia's Rivo Rengkung at just 0:46 of the second round.
20 year old light flyweight Milan Melindo, 16-0 (4), shed the prospect tag by winning the biggest fight of career with a twelve round unanimous decision over Panama's Carlos "Shanghai" Melo, 18-7 (2), that earned the Mandaue City man the WBA Intercontinental title. More...
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