2016 Olympic gold medalist Robson Conceicao (19-2-1, 9 KOs) pulled off an upset with a twelve-round split decision win over fan-favorite WBC super featherweight champion O’Shaquie Foster (22-3, 12 KOs) at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Foster’s Passive Approach
The fight’s outcome had the 30-year-old Texas native Foster and his fans complaining angrily, but the reality is that he didn’t do enough to defeat the challenger, Conceicao. The Brazilian wanted it more and out-hustled the champion with his hard-working approach.
Foster was too defensive, hanging back, moving, and letting the hard-working Conceicao attack him all night by looping his right hand into his head.
Foster used his Shakur-esque fighting style of moving, throwing single shots, and holding. It looked like Foster was imitating Shakur, and that safety-first, hit-not-get-hit style didn’t resonate with the judges.
The scores were 116-112 and 115-113 for Conceicao and 116-112 for Foster.
Conceicao’s Redeems Himself
Conceicao had been the recipient of controversial decisions in his controversial twelve-round unanimous decision loss to Oscar Valdez on September 10, 2021, in Tucson, Arizona, and a twelve-round majority draw against Emanuel Navarrete on November 16, 2023, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
If there’s a rematch, Foster must change his approach to fighting because he’s too passive. We saw that last Saturday night in his loss to Conceicao and in his previous one against Abraham Nova last February. Foster almost lost to Nova in a match that was razor-close.
In both fights, Conceicao appeared to win, but wasn’t given the victory by the judging crew that worked those contests.
When interviewed last Saturday night, Conceicao explained why he felt the judges gave him the decision. He said Foster was running around too much, and he was right.
Foster wasn’t engaging and let Conceicao be the aggressor for the entire fight. When judges see that kind of passive, non-engaged behavior from a fighter, they tend to give the victory to the other fighter.
If Foster wanted to win, he needed to be assertive and not focus solely on avoiding being hit, as we saw last Saturday night.
The promoters for last Saturday night’s event created a poisonous combination by placing Shakur Stevenson and O’Shaquie Foster in the co-feature. Because both have non-entertaining fighting styles, the last two fights of the evening were boring matches.
If you’re a promoter, it’s best to have one of those two rather than combining them and turning the event into a witch’s brew that sends fans streaming to the exit early.
Having two identical fighters with the same defensive style at the top of a card is a bad idea. I would have seen that immediately and never placed Shakur Stevenson in the top slot and Foster in the co-feature.
“This is for my daughter. I promised this to my daughter, and I was able to fulfill that promise. I’m the champion of the world,” Conceição said.
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