CONCEPCION BELIEVES HIS POWER WILL PREVAIL
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 22 Jul 2008
Panama's Rafael ?El Torito? Concepcion believes his power will prevail in his WBA super flyweight title fight against AJ ?Bazooka? Banal at the Cebu Coliseum on Saturday.
However, there were indications that Concepcion was having a little problem with his weight as he wore a thermal jacket over a long-sleeved sweatshirt in a two hour workout at the ?Fight Club? owned by boxing patron Tony Aldeguer and located at the Banilad Town Center.
Concepcion skipped rope for over thirty minutes after limbering up and shadow boxing and later smashed the heavy bag with powerful punches while veteran trainer Hector Roca watched intently.
Roca said Concepcion had tremendous power and saying that because ?he hits too hard? they had to bring in featherweights as sparring partners aside from a roster of southpaws when they trained at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn, New York.
Roca who has been a trainer for 49 years and handled such championsas Artuto Gatti and Buddy McGirt as well as the late Agapito Sanchez who fought Manny Pacquiao in a bloody IBF super bantamweight brawl said Concepcion was ?very, very powerful, very strong and in very good shape.?
Roca said ?he's mentally strong and fights tough. He is formidable? even as he stressed that Concepcion had ?no problems with southpaws because he's a fighter and it doesn' make a difference.?
The veteran trainer said Concepcion had trained for just over two months and was ?a really dedicated fighter. He never leaves the gym no matter if he has no fight.?
Roca predicted a very good fight and shared the belief of Concepcion who has a record of 6 knockouts in 10 wins with 2 defeats both of which he avenged by knockout in rematches that his punching power will decide the outcome.
After his gruelling workout Concepcion took time to speak to www.insidesports.ph in halting English. He said ?people say I have power which is correct. I have good hands and punch hard. I trained hard and am in very good condition.?
Concepcion said he doesnt believe that there's luck in boxing. He said ?you just have to train hard. The CEO of Optimum Sports Agency which handles Concepcion said Banal is such a good fighter and we have been trated so well that ?Rafael will gladly give Banal a rematch.?
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