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| Concepcion challenges JuanMa |
The early rounds were feel-out rounds as Santiago seemed to be the slicker fighter while Concepcion marched forward undeterred. Near the end of the second the Rizal fighter began to land effectively against Santiago, who playfully tapped his gloves with his foe at the end of the round as if to say ‘good work’.
Concepcion appeared to win the third as he was able to get on the inside against his taller opponent. In the fourth Santiago had his best moments as he mounted a small rally in the last minute of the round. Concepcion answered moments later, making sure not to let the momentum slip away.
Santiago had been warned in the early rounds for hitting below the belt and appeared to flirt with danger again in the fifth as he fired away with body shots as he had Concepcion pinned against the ropes. Concepcion dropped his hands and shook his head, questioning his foe’s tactics. Santiago finished with precise punching in the last ten seconds of the stanza, putting an exclamation point on his best round of the fight.
With his face started to get slightly busted up from Santiago’s jab, Concepcion applied more pressure in the sixth. He was effective, dropping Santiago moments later as the crowd erupted. Concepcion rocked Santiago again and continued to stalk the Ponce native. Despite appearing to be on shaky legs, Santiago regrouped and finished the round.
The seventh round saw Santiago attempted to turn the fight back into a boxing contest, but not without copping some clean and hard shots from the onrushing Concepcion. The action lulled for the first half of the eighth, but Concepcion again turned up the heat late in the round and began tagging Santiago with clean shots. Concepcion finished the round with a thudding right hand to the body and by this point the fight appeared to be slipping away from Santiago.
The ninth round was a solid one for Santiago, as he stayed out of harm’s way while appearing to land the cleaner shots. Still, it seemed as though he needed to do something serious in order to pull out the victory.
As the 10th and final round started the two fighters banged gloves in an obvious sign of competitive respect between them. Santiago came out guns blazing and Concepcion returned the fire accordingly. A right uppercut from Santiago rocked Concepcion badly as the two fought along the ropes and the Puerto Rican let everything out.
Concepcion banged on his gloves as the time ticked down and two fighters began talking to one another, egging each other on. Santiago closed the show in strong fashion, battering Concepcion in the corner, but when the bell sounded you had to wonder if it was too little, too late.
That was exactly the case as scores of 98-91, 97-92, and 96-93 were read in Concepcion’s favor. Concepcion landed 145 out of 387 punches for a 37% connect rate while Santiago was 149 out of 789, registering a 19% clip. Santiago may have been busier but Concepcion landed the more telling blows.
The bout was a nice fight, one that showed that aggression and determination can find a way to overcome pure ability. It will be interesting to see how Concepcion does if he ever meets Lopez and judging by tonight’s effort he surely will make his presence felt.
Source: Chris Robinson | Examiner.com
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