Analyst Teddy Atlas predicts a win for O’Shaquie Foster over WBC super featherweight champion Robson Conceicao in their rematch this Saturday night at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York.
Atlas feels that the combination of the youth of the 31-year-old Foster (22-3, 12 KOs) and the pressure that will be placed on the judges to give him the decision will lead him to victory over the 36-year-old old Conceicao (19-2-1, 9 KOs).
The A-side Foster wasn’t supposed to lose to Conceicao earlier this year on July 6, but he didn’t fight hard and accepted that the judges would give him the decision based on his minimal work. He was given a quick rematch based on the huge outcry from Foster and his fans.
While Foster used his Mayweather-esque potshot style, Conceicao threw non-stop shots and outworked him in every round. It left a clear impression of who wanted to win more. Not surprisingly, the judges gave it to hard-working 2016 Olympic gold medalist Conceicao.
Foster’s approach to the fight led to the crowd booing him, and yet that still didn’t motivate him to let go of his hands. Teddy didn’t mention anything about the boomerang, but it must have affected the judges.
The scores
– 116-112: Conception
– 115-113: Conceico
– 116-112: Commit
I watched the fight live and had it for Conceicao 117-111. He outshot Foster by a wide margin and dominated the vast majority of the fight. Foster looked like he was just trying not to get hit and steal the rounds in the last ten seconds by landing a few shots.
It was clear from Foster that he didn’t want to put in any effort, which may have been due to the grueling fight he recently had against Abraham ‘Super’ Nova on February 16th. Nova hit Foster hard and worked him out the same way Conceicao worked him out.
The judges gave Foster a 12-round split decision, but many fans felt that Nova did more than enough to deserve the win. However, the judges gave it to the A-side Foster, who dodged a bullet in that fight but didn’t learn from his mistakes of not being busy enough.
“I like Foster to win this one. I think Conceicao got his thing. He finally got his title. I’m happy for him,” Teddy Atlas said of his channel, O’Shaquie Foster selected to defeat Robson Conceicao on Saturday night in their rematch on November 2nd.
“I’m not happy that the other guy (Foster) got robbed. Foster immediately got the rematch. I am grateful for that. He is younger (31). Conceicao is older (recently turned 36). I think he probably won’t be as good as he was in that fight. Maybe the age will show a little more, and Foster is a little younger. It will show.”
Teddy is a little down. The younger looking fighter in their previous clash was Conceicao, not Foster. Although Foster was five years younger than the 36-year-old Conceicao, he looked and fought like an older guy, with his Mayweather potshot approach. He didn’t want to work hard, and that’s a characteristic of older fighters. Brazilian Conceicao wanted it more, and the judges noticed. The slacker lost, and rightfully so.
Conceicao is the one robbed in his last fights, not Foster. In Conceicao’s clashes against Emanuel Navarrete and Oscar Valdez, he was given a raw deal and should have gotten wins. Against Foster, the judges finally got it right.
“Foster will learn from his mistakes. People will say, ‘What mistakes? He was robbed.’ He could have done more,” said Atlas, predicting a win for Foster over Conceicao. “He left things on the table. He could have rushed more. He could have done a little more. I think he will do a little bit more.”
Foster has never had a high work rate, and it’s hard to imagine him “learning from his mistakes,” as Atlas puts it, because that would involve abandoning the minimalist, potshot style he’s always had. alter. Fighters cannot change their DNA, especially as they age, and have been through the wars Foster had against ‘Super’ Nova, Eduardo Hernandez and Rey Vargas. He took a lot of shots in those fights.
The Hernandez and Nova fights were brutal for Foster, which is why he may have been reluctant to crawl out of the foxhole he was hiding in and hit the front lines against Conceicao. Foster was too exhausted from the Nova, and Hernandez fights to rush into no man’s land to engage in combat against the ambitious soldier Conceicao.
“I’m not saying he should get reckless. I’m not saying he needs to get out of his ID that he wants to box, and do all those wonderful beautiful things. But doing a little more of them gives you opportunities to move your hands a little more without betraying your style. I think he will do a little more.
“The other guy (Conceicao), I think he got to the top of the mountain. I think this will be his one shot at a mountain top. I think O’Shaquie Foster will end up winning a unanimous decision. He quickly got the rematch? Why did he get the rematch quickly because they said it was an injustice. They demanded an immediate rematch from the organization (WBC),” said Atlas.
Conceicao is not going to give up his WBC title just because he “got to the top of the mountain”, as Atlas says. What kind of nonsense is this? He’s going to fight tooth and nail to hold on to it, and he’s going to go on the offensive against the embattled Foster and work him out again. Foster is no longer fighting him. We saw it against Conceicao and Novs. Hernandez took it out of him.
“You think the judges aren’t going to be aware that the lights are going to be on them?” said Atlas. ‘I better make sure. Here, now let me make my card and make sure. First round, O’Shaquie. Second round, O’Shaquie. Third round, O’Shaquie. Fourth round, O’Shaquie.’
“I think he (Foster) has everything going for him. If that’s not enough, I think Foster has the pressure on the judges. I think they’re going to be afraid not to give it to him,” Atlas said.
