The rematch from a controversial decision that happened in July between Robson Conceicao and O’Shaquie Foster will stream live this Saturday on ESPN+. The vast majority of boxing folks believed Foster did enough to get his hand raised in the summer. On paper officially it goes down as a split decision loss for Foster.
(Credit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank)
In fact, O’Shaquie’s prior two outings were very competitive. Foster defeated than 1-loss Abraham Nova via split decision and needed a dramatic 12th-round stoppage to beat Eduardo Hernandez. Both men can improve on their performances from 4 months ago.
Robson Conceicao was clearly the aggressor in their first meeting. He threw 701 total punches to Foster’s 435. However, he was outlanded 109 to 76, connecting on just 11 percent of his punches, according to Compubox. The only advantage Robson had when it came to punches landed was to the body. In the second half of the fight, Conceicao did up his punch rate, and apparently, that was enough for two out of the three judges. Those two cards that favored Robson were 7-5 and 8-4. How a judge was able to find seven rounds, let alone 8, to give to the now 130-pound titlist is beyond this boxing junkie.
Improving accuracy and body punching at close range, along with hurting Foster, would be a path to make sure Robson wins again. For O’Shaquie Foster to win this fight, it will likely have to be more of the same as funny as that sounds. Generally speaking, the fighter that people thought got jobbed gets the benefit of the doubt in rematches unless they’re facing a big-ticket seller. Foster could use his jab more and also target the body to slow down the aggressive Conceicao.
Foster will have to throw more meaningful punches, but that doesn’t mean 3 or 4 punches combos. Foster can’t fall into the trap of fighting on the inside which would help his opponent greatly. Using that jab at times, doubling or tripling it up to create open targets will help Foster land flush shots to the head. 2-punch combos and lead left hooks or right hands once the jab is established would do the trick.
Instead of exiting the pocket after landing, Foster could pivot and circle Conceicao, killing two birds with one stone. Scoring clean punches and also keeping Robson off balance prevents Conceicao from setting his feet to throw power punches. Basically, making sure everyone in the building knows who won the round clearly is the goal for Foster. One last thing: We know Foster is a very good defensive boxer, but Shakur Stevenson is too. Stevenson was able to push Conceicao back in their 12-round bout. Not to say all of a sudden, Foster has to be the pressure fighter from the jump, but mixing in aggression would seal the deal.
Yes, it’s true on paper, not many boxing fans are anticipating the rematch. But as we know fights aren’t won or loss on paper. This boxing podcaster thinks will get a much improved fight based off Foster’s assertiveness. Look for a dominant night from O’Shaquie Foster so he can get back to his winning ways. Foster will hurt and possible drop Conceicao in route to a decisive victory.
My Official Prediction is O’Shaquie Foster by Unanimous Decision.
PODCAST LINK: http://tobtr.com/12381121
Side Note: On the undercard, Raymond Muratalla returns against Jesus Perez-Campos. As well as rising prospect Yan Santana facing off against solid veteran Eduardo Baez.
Written by Chris Carlson, Host/Producer of The Rope A Dope Radio Podcast Available at www.blogtalkradio.com/ropeadoperadio Follow on Twitter @RopeADopeRadio
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