O’Shaquie Foster will get a second chance against Robson Conceicao on Saturday night to reclaim his WBC super featherweight title. The fight will be on ESPN+ at the Turning Stone Resort Casino on November 2nd.
This fight could be a repeat of the previous one between them as both fighters are in their 30s and have established styles. Foster used his old Dinosaur-era potshot style, throwing only the occasional punch and counting on the judges to give him rounds.
The judges were more impressed with Conceicao’s consistent work. He never stopped throwing and attacking. He had a classic Aaron Pryor style of non-stop punches, and the judges loved it. Therefore the decision was given to him.
Foster used that style in many of his fights against lesser opposition, but it was not effective when he fought Abraham Nova and Conceicao. Both go-getters outscored him and exposed the weakness of the Mayweather-esque potshot style.
It can be defeated, just like the Maginot Line. They realized the flaw in the potshot style Foster adopted from Mayweather was that it could be overpowered with punches.
Foster (22-3, 12 KOs) lost to Conceicao (19-2-1, 9 KOs) via a 12-round split decision earlier this year on July 6. It was an excellent performance by 2016 Olympic gold medalist Conceicao, outplaying the minimalist potshot fighter Foster and snowballing him.
Conceicao overpowered Him
Foster’s habit of just throwing pot shots came back to haunt him in this fight as he was outclassed by Brazilian Conceicao with clean landings and harder punches.
“He was fired up, worked out in some laps where he was out there like a surgeon, picking out his spots, not wanting to mess up at all,” Teddy Atlas said. Probox TVtalks about why O’Shaquie Foster lost to Robson Conceicao in their previous fight on July 6th.
Atlas is correct. Conceicao outworked Foster, and the more experienced fighter from Brazil defeated his minimalist fighting style. Unfortunately, nothing will change in the rematch as Foster’s style of fighting is entrenched. He’s set in his ways and can’t change without it breaking him as a fighter, which probably leads to him getting knocked out by fighters with busier styles.
“I’m not going to say it was a Brinks heist, because to me it wasn’t,” Atlas said of Conceicao’s win last July. “Foster was a surgeon. He doesn’t waste anything, but sometimes it can come back and bite you.”
Nova solved Foster’s style
Foster’s style was undone by Conceicao just like it was in his previous fight against Abraham ‘Super’ Nova on February 16th earlier this year. That fight was a real steal as Nova earned the win because he beat Foster badly in the second half and overwhelmed him with punches. The crowd at the ringside at Madison Square Garden in New York booed the results and felt that Nova should have won.
“The other guy (Conceicao) knew what he was doing. His work rate was more. Conceicao also landed clean, effective shots. It was reckless not to throw more punches,” Atlas said of Foster.
“You hit him with a jab, but you could have hit him with something else. There were a lot of dead spots with nothing going on. There’s more you could have done to be a better fighter,” Atlas said.
VERONA, FIGHT WEEK IS FINALLY HERE ❗️# ConceicaoFoster2 | 2 NOV | @ESPNplus pic.twitter.com/d8WVyAcgRi
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) October 28, 2024
