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Bernabe Concepcion's July Chance

Jess Matthew Beltran
Jun 22, 2010

On the eve of Valentines Day, Bernabe Concepcion won a unanimous decision against Mario Santiago in Las Vegas USA that earned him a chance to fight against Santiagoโ€™s country man and kingpin of the featherweight division Juan Manuel Lopez. I donโ€™t know if it was a blessing or a curse but Bernabe is aiming at the highest mountain he could climb, the top of the food chain. Juanma is no easy task and he fought the best fighters on the super bantam weight division before stepping up the plate and now going up in the featherweight to fight bigger names such as Israel Vasquez, Rafael Marquez and the equally dangerous and undefeated fighter from Cuba Yuriorkis Gamboa. Concepcion isnโ€™t a pushover either he was never been knockdown on his 3 losses and he got disqualified on his fight with Steven Luevano when he hit him after the bell already sounded in the 7th round. But does Concepcion have what it takes to win Juanmaโ€™s belt?
Lopez went toe to toe with Gerry Peรฑalosa and took the defensive specialist to 10 rounds before Freddie Roach wave the towel saving Gerry further damage, he knock out Daniel Ponce De Leon in just seconds on the first round and lastly it only took 7 rounds to score an impressive TKO win against Luevano earning him Stevenโ€™s WBO title. But despite of all that Concepcion has one bright light in fighting Lopez. He should see how Rogers Mtagwa handled Lopez; he went toe to toe with him for 12 full rounds in a straight-up brawl Iโ€™m not saying Concepcion should do that but he has to present an element of surprise to Lopezโ€ฆ something he never expected. Lopez is not perfect but he has little flaws so the only way to outwork and outhustle him is to conserve energy by hitting him with precise offense and using more footwork to maneuver Lopezโ€™s power punchesโ€ฆ easier said than done.
July 10 would prove to be Concepcionโ€™s biggest fight of his careerโ€ฆfour months to make him battle ready. Juanma still has a date with destiny against Gamboa and that would be an enormous fight in boxing not unless Concepcion steals the limelight and rewrite history but itโ€™s unlikely to happen. He has only a puncher chanceโ€ฆ one big hit can change everything maybe thatโ€™s what it takes for Concepcion to win against Lopezโ€ฆ other than that I couldnโ€™t think of any.