O’Shaquie Foster (23-3, 12 KOs) got his confirmation and reclaimed his WBC super featherweight title with a close 12-round victory 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 largely 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 content to watch a technical fight between Foster and Conceicao. They bought tickets, thinking it was going to be a war, but instead saw a defensive contest.
Foster, 31, used his minimalist offensive approach, was stingy with throwing punches and allowed champion Conceicao to outwork him. It was much like the first fight, in which Conceicao won a 12-round split decision on July 6.
The judges’ scores:
115-113 – Foster
115-113 – Conception
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 hit him with non-stop body shots.
It wasn’t a convincing win for Foster as Conceicao landed the harder punches, did most of the work and was the one pushing forward throughout the fight. The championship rounds clearly belonged to Conceicao.
Some fans believe the only reason Foster made the decision tonight was because of the huge backlash over the previous fight with Conceicao last July. Since Foster was reportedly robbed in that fight, the judges bent over backwards to give him the decision tonight, even though he didn’t do enough to deserve the win. It looked like a draw or a win for Conceicao.
Conceicao landed the harder, cleaner landing shots. Foster held a lot and he couldn’t generate any power on his punches to clear the rounds in his favor. Even when Foster did land clean, there was no power on his shots. They were like weak stitches. Conceicao’s face was completely unmarked after the fight as if he had been in a fight. He was sweating but unnoticed.
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 victory, and can stop complaining to the media and playing the victim. Top ranked should match Foster against Emanuel Navarrete or one of the talented lightweights like Raymond Muratalla, Abdullah Mason or Keyshawn Davis.
 got his vindication, winning his WBC super featherweight title back with a narrow 12-round split decision win over champion){kind=link}