PACQUIAO CONFIDENT OF CONCEPCION?S CHANCES AGAINST JUANMA LOPEZ
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 29 Jun 2010
While most fight fans and boxing writers believe Bernabe Concepcion will have a very hard time against WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel ?Juanma? Lopez in their title clash in Puerto Rico on July 10 (July 11 in Manila), pound-for-pound king and ?Fighter of the Decade? Manny Pacquiao believes otherwise.
Pacquiao?s adviser Michael Koncz said Pacquiao and he had discussed the upcoming title fight against Lopez and that Pacquiao ?feels very confident that Bernabe (Concepcion) has a good chance.?
Koncz said Pacquiao feels that Concepcion is a stronger puncher than Lopez and all he needs to do is ?to be smart and box him. Fight with a lot of heart and he?s going to be champion.?
Koncz who together with Pacquiao was recently in Los Angeles said Concepcion had been ?training hard and is in good shape? working with Filipino trainer Restituto ?Buboy? Fernandez and assistant Nonoy Neri who handles his conditioning.
He said Concepcion is pushing himself hard to be in the best shape of his life for the title fight and that he is ?in good spirits.?
Koncz said that if Concepcion ?loses this fight there would be no excuse and it only means that Lopez was the better fighter that day.?
Pacquiao who had initially planned to go to Puerto Rico to watch the fight at ringside ?is not going to be able to make it? according to Koncz who plans to leave for Puerto Rico on July 8.
At the same time Koncz who effectively handles Concepcion and Philippine bantamweight champion Eden Sonsona for Pacquiao said the southpaw who has made a big impression since his US debut in which he scored a rousing 2nd round TKO of Eilon Kedem on the Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto undercard last November was ?coming along great.?
At the same time he clarified that the fight between Sonsona and Puerto Rico?s Jonathan Oquendo ?has now been changed to a super bantamweight elimination bout? for the right to challenge Wilfredo Vazquez Jr for the title.
Koncz said he is aware that well-known boxing man Moy Lainez doesn?t think Eden Sonsona, who is comfortable as a bantamweight, should not move up in weight to fight someone as big and strong as Vazquez Jr who demolished former WBO super flyweight champion ?Marvelous? Marvin Sonsona, a cousin of Eden, but that both Pacquiao and believe he should but that they would ?decide after this fight? against Oquendo.
He said ?we will see how he performs against Oquendo. We are not going to put him in to get slaughtered but if his performance is good here then we?ll take that championship fight because most fighters don?t get a chance to fight for a championship. Anyway, we haven?t made any concrete decision on it as yet.?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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