O’Shaquie Foster (23-3, 12 KOs) got his vindication, winning his WBC super featherweight title back with a narrow 12-round split decision win over champion Robson Conceição (19-3-1, 9 KOs) on Saturday night in their rematch at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York.
Tonight’s fight was, for the most part, a chess match, with both fighters blocking shots and making their opponents miss. There were boos from the crowd in the last quarter of the fight, as the fans were not happy with watching a technical battle between Foster and Conceicao. They had bought tickets, thinking it was going to be a war, but instead saw a defensive contest.
Foster, 31, used his minimalist offensive approach, being stingy with throwing punches and allowing the champion Conceicao to outwork him. It was lot like the first fight, which saw Conceicao win a 12-round split decision on July 6th.
The judges’ scores:
115-113 – Foster
115-113 – Conceicao
115-113 – Foster
In rounds 9 through 12, Conceicao pressed the action, hitting Foster with wide hooks to the head and right hands to the body. Conceicao frequently used his upper body strength to force Foster against the ropes, where he hammered him with nonstop body shots.
It was not a convincing victory for Foster because Conceicao had landed the harder punches, done most of the work, and had been the one pressing forward the entire fight. The championship rounds clearly belonged to Conceicao.
Some fans believe the only reason Foster was given the decision tonight was because of the huge backlash over the previous fight with Conceicao last July. Since Foster believed to have been robbed in that fight, the judges bent over backward to give him the decision tonight, even though he didn’t do enough to earn the win. It looked like a draw or a victory for Conceicao.
Conceicao landed the harder, cleaner-landing shots. Foster was holding a lot, and he couldn’t generate any power on his punches to make the rounds clear in his favor. Even when Foster did land clean, there was zero power on his shots. They were like weak jabs. Conceicao’s face was completely unmarked after the fight as if he’d been in a fight. He was sweating but unmarked.
It would be a good ideal for Top Rank not to bother with a trilogy between Foster and Conceicao. Let the two go their separate ways. Foster has his win, and can stop complaining to the media, playing the victim. Top Rank needs to match Foster against Emanuel Navarrete or one of the talented lightweights like Raymond Muratalla, Abdullah Mason, or Keyshawn Davis.
Read the full article here
