By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Panama’s WBA super flyweight interim champion Rafael “El Torito” Concepcion lost to Mexican warrior Jorge “Travieso” Arce in a ring war which ended when Concepcion was unable to come out for the tenth round at the Arena Mexico in Mexico City.
Concepcion connected with some vicious combinations in the early rounds and had Arce in trouble on more than one occasion but the Mexican, fighting on the eve of Mexican Independence Day drew inspiration from his hometown fans who roared as Arce took the battle to the gallant Panamanian who began to tire out.
Arce whose consistent aggression paid off began to punish Concepcion in the eighth round and kept the pressure on the interim champion and hurt him in the ninth.
Concepcion won the interim title with a stunning tenth round knockout over previously undefeated AJ “Bazooka” Banal at the Cebu Coliseum and after a short rest began training hard for the Arce fight
Trainer Henry Sune’s strategy of getting Concepcion’s sparring partners to emulate the style and work rate of Arce appeared to be working early in the fight but once the Mexican began to step it up he turned the fight around.
Prior to the title fight the manager of Concepcion , the likeable Damon de Berry of Optimum Sports Agency in an email to insidesports.ph, Manila Standard and Viva Sports conceded “ this is a very tough first defense for Concepcion . Arce is an experienced fighter and he presents a very large challenge.”
In the fight itself it seemed that the high altitude of 7,300 feet above sea level took its toll on Concepcion who began to fade after the seventh round. De Berry predicted a fiery affair and he was correct as neither fighter gave an inch until the end.
Concepcion demonstrated his fighting heart against Banal in the Filipino southpaw’s own hometown when he took a beating in the early rounds but came back to score a KO in the tenth round.
With the win Arce improved to 50-4-1 with 38 knockouts while Concepcion dropped to 11-3-1 with 7 knockouts.
