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Concepcion fulfills vow, stuns Banal via KO
Written by Staff   
Sunday, 27 July 2008 13:38

In the end, Rafael "El Torito" Concepcion fulfilled a promise he had made: that he would not go back a loser to Panama.

And that he did Saturday night by knocking out crowd favorite A.J. "Bazooka" Banal in round 10 of their 12-round "Laban na Banal: Panahon Na" card for the World Boxing Association interim super flyweight belt at the Cebu Coliseum in Cebu City.

"I felt I was the stronger fighter because of better preparation," Concepcion said with sports commentator Dyan Castillejo translating his Spanish.

Referee Raul Caiz, Jr. counted Banal out 2:35 of the 10th round after Concepcion landed a straight right to the Filipino’s left temple.

The blow sent Banal knees down to the canvas as Concepcion erupted with joy.

Banal, meanwhile was stunned. He was able to last 10 rounds but in the end, his energy level crashed as Concepcion became the aggressor and concentrated on body shots.

The fight was characterized by holds, low blows and a series of time outs as referee Raul Caiz, Jr. ordered the fighters’ respective corners to knot shoe laces becoming untied and cut off tapes falling off from the gloves.

In the last three rounds, Concepcion came back raging as he released punch after punch that made their connection to Banal’s sides.

Banal, however, did not stand down as he went on to counter-attack the flurry of left hooks and straights issued by the Panamian.

The Filipino suffered a big blow as Caiz deducted one point from his score for taking a shot at Concepcion even after the bell rang to signal the end of the ninth round.

It was a big upset for Banal who suffered his first defeat as against 17 wins with 14 of the victories coming by way of knockout.

Analysts, meanwhile, took their hats off to Concepcion who went the distance, kept coming back and beat the hometown favorite.

The Panamian, who improved his record to 11-2 with 7 KOs, said he dedicates the victory to his nine-month old daughter.

Two Pinoys save the day

While Concepcion brought a victory for Team Panama during Saturday’s fight card, his compatriot, Carlos "Shangai" Melo, lost via unanimous decision to Milan Melindo in their 12-round WBA light flyweight championship clash.

Two ringside judges saw it 117-111 and the third 116-112, all in favor of the fighter who hails from Cagayan de Oro City.

Melindo, nicknamed "Milenyo" after the strong typhoon that hit the Philippines in 2006, improved his win-loss record to 16-0 with four KOs.

In another explosive match-up, Michael Domingo of the Philippines won convincingly against Rivo Rengkung of Indonesia for the World Boxing Organization Oriental bantamweight championship.

Domingo, who goes by the alias "Bruce Lee", floored the Indonesian 46 seconds in round two of the scheduled 12-rounder.

The new champ improved his record to 35-14, with 14 wins coming by way of knockout. Rengkung, on the other hand, now has 27-6 with 10 KOs.
 
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