By Jake Donovan

You’d think that Carlos Cuadras would want his opponent to come to town believing he’s going to pull off a major upset this weekend. Apparently, the unbeaten junior bantamweight thinks otherwise, as he doesn’t care for the knockout claims coming from Luis Concepcion.

The diminutive sluggers collide this weekend in Metepec, Mexico, headlining live on Televisa’s “Sábados de Box” series.

Barely a day after Concepcion (32-3, 23KOs) has vowed to knock out Cuadras and bring his title back home to Panama, the defending alphabet titlist decided a response was necessary.

It’s apparent that Luis “El Nica” Concepcion is still getting used to campaigning full time in the junior bantamweight division. The free-swinging slugger from Panama wrapped up training camp on Monday, hitting the scales at 113 ¾”, more than a full pound below the 115 lb. divisional limit with still four days to go until the pre-fight weigh-in for Saturday’s showdown with unbeaten junior bantamweight titlist Carlos Cuadras in Metepec, Mexico.

“I'm going to shut the mouth so tight that his words will stay in there,” Cuadras vowed during a “Martes de Café” weekly session at World Boxing Council (WBC) headquarters. “He will return home empty handed and only dreaming about winning my title.”

Concepcion (32-3, 23KOs) comes in having won nine straight, but heads back to a boxing-rich country that hosted his last loss, when Hernan ‘Tyson’ Marquez knocked him out inside of a round in their Oct. ’11 rematch.

The fight was his lone road trip since turning pro nearly nine years ago, and his second title fight loss in as many tries, both coming versus Marquez.

Cuadras (31-0-1, 25KOs) claimed his belt last May, scoring a technical decision win over Srisaket Sor Rungvisai after a clash of heads brought an abrupt ending to their title fight. A similar fight produced an anti-climactic ending as his 1st title defense versus Jose Salgado ended in a technical draw.

A conclusive ending in a title fight finally came for Cuadras last November, scoring a one-sided 6th round stoppage of Marvin Mabait. The bout took place in Washington D.C., marking his stateside debut.

If the defending champ is to be believed, then the same can be expected on Saturday.

"Concepcion thinks he can come here and disrespect me in my house, but he will return home empty-handed,” Cuadras promises.

In the chief support, Ramon Garcia and Jonathan Taconing square off in a junior flyweight clash with title fight implications.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox