ROACH RULES OUT CONCEPCION-LOPEZ TITLE FIGHT JUST YET
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 10 Jun 2008
Celebrated trainer Freddie Roach has ruled out a title fight in the near future for North American Boxing Federation champion Bernabe Concepcion against newly crowned WBO super bantamweight sensation Juan Manuel Lopez .
In an overseas telephone conversation with Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today, Roach said Lopez was ?a little too dangerous? for Concepcion at this point in the 20 year old Filipino?s career and said Concepcion ?will need a little more seasoning? before he takes on the hard-hitting Puerto Rican who scored a sensational first round knockout over previously menacing Daniel Ponce De Leon on Sunday.
We understand that Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao and Michael Koncz who plays a role of some sort of an adviser and has ties with Top Rank promoter Bob Arum both believe Concepcion isn?t ready to take on Lopez.
Before the fight against Daniel Ponce De Leon which he expected Lopez to win, Arum spoke about a possible Concepcion-Lopez title fight if the Filipino performed well on the July 26 Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito undercard but after watching Lopez demolish Ponce De Leon even Arum may have second thoughts although he said Concepcion would probably be the only one with guts to step into the ring against the Puerto Rican.
Roach said Concepcion arrived in Los Angeles over the weekend after Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao called Aljoe Jaro and asked him to send Concepcion right away after Jaro publicly announced he would accompany the fighter to LA only on June 24. In fact Roach claimed that Concepcion had signed up with Pacquiao.
Concepcion would begin training at the Wild Card Gym today in preparation for his July 26th fight against Adam ?El Torito? Carrera, the former NABF champion with a record of 19-3 with 8 knockouts. Concepcion has a record of 25-1-1 with 14 knockouts.
According to boxrec.com Carrera was knocked out by undefeated Juan Carlos Burgos in the third round last August 24, 2007. Carrera won the NABF title with a seventh round TKO over Julio Gamboa on June 24, 2006 when Gamboa?s corner advised referee Raul Caiz Jr that Gamboa was unable to continue. Although Gamboa protested his corner?s decision to no avail, it was clear he was losing a tough fight rather badly and there was no need for him to take any more punishment from Carrera.
Carrera also scored scored a unanimous eight round decision over Gerardo Espinoza on July 4, 2006. Espinoza had previously dropped an eight round decision to Rey ?Boom Boom? Bautista on December 23, 2005.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
Smarts over power
By Joaquin Henson, Tue, 16 Sep 2025HALL OF FAME FLIES FLAGS AT HALF-STAFF FOR TWO-DIVISION CHAMPION RICKY HATTON
Tue, 16 Sep 2025Kazakhstan tops the medal table at the inaugural World Boxing Championships 2025 thanks to victory in the final bout of the competition
Tue, 16 Sep 2025THRILLA IN MANILA GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY 13: JOE FRAZIER’S HUMBLE BEGINNINGS AS AN AMATEUR FIGHTER
By Maloney L. Samaco, Mon, 15 Sep 2025A New King, A New Challenger: Turki Alalshikh Proposes Crawford-Benavidez While Canelo Alvarez Faces Defeat with Humility
By Dong Secuya, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Highly Questionable Title Eliminator
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Yoseline Perez Earns Silver Medal at Inaugural World Boxing Championships
Mon, 15 Sep 202521-year-old Filipino wins at Germany rapid chess tournament
By Marlon Bernardino, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Nagoya Nightmare: Naoya Inoue Notches One-Sided Decision over Murodjon Akhmadaliev
Mon, 15 Sep 2025Inoue’s Philippine Connection: Which Pinoy Super Bantamweight Could Challenge “The Monster?”
By Carlos Costa, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Yoseline Perez Advances to the Finals at the World Boxing Championships Perez Set to Face Chinese Taipei’s Hsiao-Wen Huang for 54-Kilogram World Title
Mon, 15 Sep 2025Canelo Gets Outboxed, Loses Undisputed Title to Crawford
By Carlos Costa, Sun, 14 Sep 2025A Masterpiece of Boxing: Terence Crawford Dethrones Canelo Alvarez in Historic Showdown
By Dong Secuya, Sun, 14 Sep 2025LEWIS CROCKER IS CROWNED THE NEW IBF WORLD WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION
Sun, 14 Sep 2025Battle of Undefeated: Callum Walsh Vanquishes Fernando Vargas Jr.
By Dong Secuya, Sun, 14 Sep 2025