Boxing's Most Exciting Slugger Luis Concepcion Fights Carlos Cuadras Saturday

There isn't a fighter alive who is more exciting than Luis Concepcion.

After being briefly linked to a matchup with flyweight kingpin Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez by BoxingScene.com, Concepcion challenges the undefeated Carlos Cuadras on Saturday for the WBC recognized super flyweight title in Metepec, Mexico. The fight airs live on Televisa.

A former flyweight world champion with a penchant for melee action (and backflips off the corner posts), Concepcion (32-3, 23 KO) is unbeaten since 2012, fluctuating between flyweight and junior bantamweight. Cuadras (31-0, 25 KO), the No. 2- and No. 3-rated 115-pound boxer in the world by The Ring and Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, respectively, is the reasonable favorite going into this weekend's affair.

But Concepcion, nicknamed "El Nica," is a fighter with the kind of blistering style that converts the boxing ring into a storm of swirling violence and mayhem where logic and reason have no place.

Arnulfo Franco/Associated Press

At first glance, Concepcion is all kinds of an anomaly. Just 5'2", the Panamanian is stout and burly. He can be likened to a sawed-off Hercules (as Barbados Joe Walcott was once described as). His "blowout" hairstyle and glistening bronze complexion draw more resemblance to the mythical "guido" of Jersey Shore lore than that of an esteemed combatant.

Nevertheless, his chilling hitting prowess can bring fighters, nay champions, of all shapes and sizes to their knees. He flattened former minimumweight titlist Roberto Carlos Leyva, stopped one-time 108-pound belt holder Eric Ortiz and handed flyweight champion Denkaosan Kaovichit just his second KO defeat in 53 fights—each in less than four rounds.

And baddest of them all was Manuel "Chango" Vargas, whom Concepcion sparked with a right hand that left Chango stiffened like a corpse in just 76 seconds.

The highly touted Hernan "Tyson" Marquez, too, got a taste of that patented right hand in Round 1 of their first bout, which sent him reeling in the opener of what was a war for the ages.

Their rematch in 2011, however, saw Concepcion get demoralized by a first-round knockout.

Resilient, El Nica hasn't lost since, and per Jake Donovan of BoxingScene.com, he is fully prepared for the hometown Cuadras:

"

Mexico is a country of great champions and the people are very friendly. Unfortunately, they will be left without a champion. Carlos Cuadras is no match for my power and will eventually fall to my feet.

I'm ready for everything he has to offer in order to once again become world champion. Although, I want to make it clear that this Saturday I will knock him out.

"

Naturally, the defending champion isn't convinced. 

"Concepcion thinks he can come here and disrespect me in my house," Cuadras said in a separate report by Donovan. "He will return home empty-handed."

While unbeaten in his career, Cuadras' time as champion hasn't been overly impressive.

He lifted the WBC super flyweight title from Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in May of last year. He fully outboxed the dangerous Thai early, successfully potshotting through the first couple of rounds and really laying combinations into him through the middle of the fight before Rungvisai rallied back to steal the last few rounds—looking apt to pull off the comeback. Alas, the fight came to an abrupt end after a clash of heads in the eighth round.

The same thing forced a technical draw in Cuadras' very next fight against Jose Salgado.

The Mexican champion finally retained his belt by way of his own hands with a six-round drubbing of Marvin Mabait four months ago.

Cuadras, 26, is younger and taller and will be the more calculated fighter Saturday against the 29-year-old Concepcion.

But while Cuadras' 25 KOs attest to a respectable punch, he—like most in the world—pales in comparison to the murderous power tucked away in Concepcion's mitts. Every one of El Nica's opponents have touched the canvas during his nine-fight winning streak that includes five savage KOs—none more haunting than the dizzying left hook that lit up Carlos Ruiz in late 2013. 

Concepcion may just be a whisker over 5'0", but as Dante once wrote, "From a tiny spark, may burst a mighty flame."