Inside the dressing room of O’Shaquie Foster on a horrible night

Coach Bobby Benton is still grappling with the aftermath of a controversial split decision that stripped his fighter O’Shaquie Foster of his junior lightweight WBC title.

Foster, 30, known as “Shock,” appeared to many observers, including ESPN analysts and BoxingScene, to have won a points decision against Robson Conceicao, 35, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. However, he left the ring without his belt.

“I don’t know why or how this happened, but it happened,” Benton said, admitting he was still stunned by the outcome.

A variety of personalities outside boxing’s immediate sphere, including Stephen A. Smith, comedian Bill Burr, and NBA All-Star Damian Lillard, criticized the outcome and voiced their displeasure. None of it can change the result.

“Obviously, Shock got robbed. To me, it was an easy fight,” Benton said. “None of us had the thought that we were losing or that it was even close. Everybody in the corner was calm. Shock was boxing beautifully. The game plan was to not get touched in this fight.”

According to CompuBox punch statistics, Foster (22-3, 12 KOs) outlanded Conceicao (19-2-1, 9 KOs) in 10 of 12 rounds. Foster landed 109 out of his 435 punches, whereas Conceicao landed 76 out of 701. Foster’s overall connect percentage was 25.1 per cent, compared to Conceicao’s 10.8 per cent. The only statistical area Conceicao “won” was in thrown punches – none of which proved materially effective. Despite the stats, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum called it a close fight and told BoxingScene that ESPN shouldn’t have focused so much on the numbers.

“Shock didn’t do anything wrong, and he is obviously very upset,” Benton said. “It is out of our hands. We are going to file a protest, and then let’s see what comes from there.”

Benton also noted that he felt Conceicao’s team knew they had lost. “When they walked over after the fight, he knew. They were like, ‘Good fight, good job.’ When they announced that first decision for Conceicao, you could see his face light up like, ‘Oh, wait.’ It was by far the most shocking thing I’ve ever been involved with, especially at this level.”

Unrelated to the scoring, Benton said there had been a glove issue before the fight. Foster’s team arrived at 7:30pm local time to a situation similar to that when the fighter took on Miguel Roman in 2020 in an event in Hollywood, Calif. Conceicao’s gloves had not been made available for inspection at the weigh-in a day earlier. After an inspection by Foster’s team on Saturday, Conceicao was made to swap them for a different pair.

“The gloves had no padding in them from the fingers to the knuckles,” Benton said. “When I went to check them, they opened them up – brand new gloves. Both pairs – the same exact thing like the Roman fight. I took a video this time. I’m barely touching my fingers, going all the way to the other side.”

BoxingScene reached out to Conceicao via translator, who said, “On the day of the weigh-in, I was informed of the glove delay by Top Rank, my promoter, which had not arrived yet but would arrive during the day. This is not my responsibility. On the day of the fight, when I was in the locker room with my team, I was informed that my gloves were not accepted by the athletic commission. The same glove model that other fighters were using at the same event! And the commission offered me the second option of gloves, which was my opponent’s… 

“But my team, always prepared, had other pairs of other models that were evaluated by the commission, my opponent’s trainer, and cleared for the fight.”

Conceicao has faced a string of misfortunes in title fights, including a controversial unanimous decision loss to Oscar Valdez, who tested positive for the banned substance phentermine according to the Volunteer Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) on Aug. 13. Despite both his A- and B-sample tests coming up positive, the Pascua Yaqui Tribal Athletic Commission allowed Valdez to proceed with the fight.

In his second title attempt, Conceicao faced unified junior lightweight titleholder Shakur Stevenson, who missed weight for their bout. Stevenson, a New Jersey native, weighed in at 131.5 pounds, a pound-and-a-half over the limit, for his hometown defense at the Prudential Center in Newark in 2022. As a result, only Conceicao was eligible to win the title. However, Conceicao lost a one-sided unanimous decision, overshadowed by Stevenson’s failure to make weight.

Conceicao’s resilience was on display when he fought WBO titleholder Emanuel Navarrete to a draw last November at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, despite being knocked down twice. Now, his biggest victory is loaded with controversy.

“I am very proud of my performance and believe I did enough to win the fight,” Conceicao said. “I understand that some may disagree with the result, but it was a fair decision by the judges. I respect everyone’s opinion, but I am focused on the future and the next stages of my career.”

The setback adds to the dramatic arc of the career and life of Houston’s Foster, who in the past year and a half has upset Rey Vargas to win the title, secured a stoppage in the 12th and final round of a fight against Eduardo “Rocky” Hernandez to retain his title, fought with an injured foot against Abraham Nova, and now lost a seemingly unjust decision.

“I’ve been saying that for a while – and not even before we got to this point – his career has been like a movie,” Benton said. “So, I mean, it just adds to it.”