By Ronnie Nathanielsz
North American Boxing Federation super bantamweight champion Bernabe Concepcion (27-1-1, 16 KO’s) had hardly any trouble as we predicted against Kenya’s durable Sande Otieno (16-1, 7 KO’s) and scored a fifth round TKO to win the vacant WBC Intercontinental featherweight title fight before a good crowd at the Araneta Coliseum late Sunday.
Concepcion staggered Otieno with a cracking right counter in round two and then caught him with two more solid right hands but the Filipino decided to showboat and as a result lost an opportunity to put the Kenyan away for good.
Although Otieno tried to comeback and on a couple of occasions trapped Concepcion in his own corner and connected with a flurry of punches to the body and the head, Concepcion opened up a nasty cut on the left eye of Otieno with another vicious right forcing referee Bruce Mc Tavish to call a halt and have the cut checked by the ringside physician.
Concepcion, cheered on by the hometown fans some of whom had traveled all the way from his home province of Catanduanes and a large segment of supporters belonging to the Iglesia Ni Kristo of which Concepcion is a member, began to press the action and had the Kenyan in trouble.
The hard-hitting, 20 year old protégé of former boxer Aljoe Jaro sustained the pressure in round five with some thundering body shots and cracking rights to the head, turning Otieno’s face into a bloody mess.
Battered and almost breathless Otieno quit on his stool and didn’t come out for the sixth round giving Concepcion a 5th round TKO victory which moved him one step closer to a title shot either against WBC champion Oscar Larios or WBO champion Steven Luevano.
The southpaw Otieno was coming off a controversial 5th round technical decision loss to Balweg Bangoyan in Davao City last October 11 and although he battled gamely he appeared unable to handle the power of Concepcion who tipped the scales at 126 pounds after Otieno, a former bantamweight, came in at only 124.5 pounds.
With the win Concepcion improved to 28-1-1 with 17 knockouts while Otieno who suffered only his second defeat, both at the hands of Filipino opponents, fell to 16-2 with 7 knockouts.
Aljoe Jaro told insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports that he plans to promote a title fight against WBC champion Oscar Larios (63-6-1, 39 KO’s) who won the title with a split decision over Takahiro Aoh last October in Japan, in late July at the Araneta Coliseum.
A Concepcion-Larios title fight in Manila would certainly be an attraction since Larios who lost a twelve round unanimous decision to Pacquiao at the Araneta Coliseum on July 2, 2006 is popular in the Philippines . Concepcion who is 12 years younger than the 32 year old veteran Larios stands a good chance of beating Larios who has slowed down in recent years and doesn't have the punching power to trouble Concepcion.
