CONCEPCION WINS BY 4TH ROUND TKO, GESTA ALSO TRIUMPHS
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 05 Aug 2007
The pain of seeing light flyweight challenger Rodel Mayol lost by an unexpected eighth round knockout was more that eased by the impressive showing of 19 year old super bantamweight Benjie Concepcion who scored a stunning fourth round TKO over highly touted Gabriel Elizondo to win the North American Boxing Federation title and the hard fought victory of Mercito Gesta in a six round featherweight bout against Carlos Madrid at the All State Arena in Chicago.
Concepcion who looked supremely confident started off well using his jab to advantage and with a series of solid body shots in round two quickly began to dictate the tempo against the favored Elizondo. In between rounds Concepcion’s manager Aljoe Jaro, a former fighter who handled the corner told his ward to “jab, jab and then use a big right hand” which Concepcion followed to perfection.
The hard-hitting Filipino dropped Elizondo with a left hook even as the champion began to resort to dirty tactics and was cautioned by the referee for using his elbow. Towards the end of the third round Concepcion who had patiently bided his time instead of rushing in wildly connected with an excellent flurry and hammered Elizondo with some devastating body shots.
n an overseas telephone conversation with Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today, Aljoe Jaro wanted to know whether fight fans were impressed with the performance and whether his instructions in the corner were “okay.” He said he was “not leaving Concepcion in the US. He is coming home with me on the 9th.” Aljoe Jaro who also manages IBF minimum weight champion Florante Condes said Top Rank promoter Bov Arum spoke to him after the fight and said he was “planning to feature Bernabe on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Marco Antonio Barrera rematch on October 6 or if not in a big fight card Arum is planning in Canada.”
It was clear that the end was near for the champion as Concepcion staggered him with a stinging right although the referee inexplicably ruled it a slip. Concepcion quickly waded into Elizondo and caught him with a vicious right. The champion went down in a hurry, tried to get up but dropped down on the canvas again and as he rose to try and beat the count, the referee wisely called a halt at 2:11 of the fourth round.
Concepcion was embraced and carried by an ecstatic Aljoe Jaro who saw his future world title prospect’s record improve to 22-1 with 12 knockouts while Elizondo who suffered only the second stoppage of his career dropped to 22-3 with 10 KO’s. Elizondo’s first knockout was suffered at the hands of reigning WBO bantamweight champion Jhonny Gonzales. Gonzales defends his title against former WBC super flyweight champion Gerry Penalosa in the Philippines vs Mexico World Cup in the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California on Sunday, August 12, Manila Time.
Gesta who last fought on December 16, 2005 as a super flyweight (115 pounds) when he scored a seventh round technical decision over Lee Escobido bloated while virtually languishing in the US without a fight and ballooned to super featherweight (130 lbs) when he clashed with Carlos Madrid. Two judges had Gesta the winner 58-56 while the third judge scored the fight an even 57-57.
The southpaw Gesta moved up to 11-0-1 with 3 knockouts while Madrid dropped to 8-4-2 with 2 KO’s.
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