Conception vs Kal Yafai

[Chrismart]

This is the fight i'm most looking forward to on the card.

Just had a quick nose on William Hill. Right now they have Concepcion at 7/4 and Yafai at 1/2.

[Chrismart]

Kal Yafai: ‘It is time for me to deliver’

By Tom Gray

Sometimes you get the feeling that a fighter is trying to convince himself that he can win.

Confidence is a trait that is harder for a fighter to maintain in this millennium because the world is such a small place. On Twitter, any boxing fan can gleefully inform Fighter A that Fighter B is going to kick his ass on whatever date. Will Fighter A capitulate under such ridicule? No, but he is constantly being reminded that defeat is a possibility.

Kal Yafai, who is rated No. 7 by THE RING at junior bantamweight, is confident by nature. The 27-year-old boxer-puncher was confident when I interviewed him for a “New Faces” feature three years ago. He was confident just minutes before that chat when he easily outscored one Santiago Bustos. Now, at 20-0 (14 knockouts), Yafai, from Birmingham, England, remains just as confident ahead of the biggest fight of his life, which takes place this Saturday in Manchester.

And Yafai’s confidence is for real.

WBA junior bantamweight titleholder Luis Concepcion, who is rated No. 5 by THE RING, is the target. It will be Yafai’s first world title bout and, without question, his toughest test. Despite being a former British and Commonwealth champion, Yafai has not mixed at top level, whereas Concepcion, who hails from the boxing rich country of Panama, has been there and done it.

“(Concepcion) is very aggressive, very strong and very powerful,” Yafai told ******.com. “He’s got a good right hand; he looks for the right uppercut and he’s just a very good fighter. He’s the champion, at the end of the day, but this is all about me doing what I have to do to get the win.

“A lot of people haven’t seen the things I can do. I can box the hell out of someone all night long if I want to. If I need to do that on Saturday night, then I’ll do it but if I need to come forward and put the pressure on, then I can do that too. I might use a bit of everything in this fight. I just think Concepcion will struggle with my flair, my speed and my all-round technical ability.”

According to British oddsmakers, Yafai is the slight favorite to relieve Concepcion of the belt he won by outpointing Kohei Kono on Japanese soil in August. That is largely due to Yafai being younger, unbeaten and the more well-known quantity on U.K. shores but the defending titleholder is on a great run of form.

Last December, Concepcion (35-4, 24 KOs) scored a 12-round shutout victory over Hernan Marquez, the former WBA flyweight titleholder, who had stopped him in two previous fights.

“You need to look at the quality of the Marquez he beat,” countered Yafai, who has studied Concepcion diligently. “I’ve watched all three of those fights and Marquez was shot to pieces (in the third fight). It’s impressive that (Concepcion) outpointed a guy who had stopped him twice but the geezer was shot. (Marquez) had been knocked out by McJoe Arroyo and one or two other guys before that (Brian Viloria and Giovani Segura).

“I did enjoy Concepcion’s fight with Kono. That was a brilliant fight. The only thing is that Kono did nothing for the first half and was on his bike. I can look at it and be impressed by Concepcion winning that decision but if Kono had boxed like that against me, I would have destroyed him.

Yafai continued, “Kono doesn’t have the ability that I have or the power I’ve got. He’s got no jab, whereas I have a good jab. He’s not a powerful fighter; he’s not strong and there were times when he hurt Concepcion, particularly in the last six rounds. Concepcion didn’t like some of the body shots he was getting hit with and he was being nailed by right hands too.”

It’s clear that Yafai feels the skids are greased for him to kick open the door to the junior bantamweight big time. He gets his opportunity on a huge U.K. pay-per-view show headlined by IBF heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua, who squares off against unheralded American Eric Molina. Many feel that Concepcion-Yafai is the fight of the night and rightly so.

“I’ve waited 18 years for this,” said the perpetually confident challenger. “I’ve given everything that I could possibly give. I’ve worked so damn hard and it is time for me to deliver.

“I think (Concepcion) will come on strong early but, as he’s getting outboxed, he’ll grow more and more frustrated. Later on in the fight, he’ll walk on to something big and it’ll be all over. It’s intriguing because we know what Concepcion is all about and I’m the one stepping up. The question is, am I good enough to fight at this level? People will find out on Saturday night.”

Is Yafai’s confidence misplaced or will this be the coronation of a dynamic new force at junior bantamweight?

[Tom Cruise]

Conception only just made it inside the bantamweight limit

117.7 lbs. So he has lost title on the scales. Yafai can still win the title

[Chrismart]

The Panel weigh up Kal Yafai v Luis Concepcion

Johnny Nelson
Yafai can become world champ, I've seen brilliance from him. Injury may have held him back a bit but the skill-set and energy he has got is second to none.
He is young and hungry enough, it's just about opportunity. So far, he has blitzed through his opponents in front of him, I do believe he is on the right path to be world champion.

Paul Smith
I've had a look at his opponent on YouTube - I don't know too much about the fighters in the lowest weight classes, I haven't seen too much of Concepcion.
've been ringside a couple of times for Yafai, and been in the same gym a couple of times. As an amateur, he was in the same camps as my brothers. I can't believe Birmingham have never had a world champion considering the good fighters they have had, including the likes of Matt Macklin.

Dave Coldwell
Yafai is in a really hard fight, and fans don't understand how good Concepcion is - he's got good fights on his records, he can box and he can fight. Sometimes if you haven't heard of a guy, you don't rate him and that's unfortunate. This fight is a really tough ask for Kal.
He's inexperienced at this level, and he's jumping a few levels against someone who has real quality, and can punch. The big thing in Kal's favour is that his amateur career was at such a high level.
He came across world-class opposition as an amateur so must draw on that experience. Kal can punch too - he's a great body puncher, and that will be important in this fight.
It's a really big win, if he can do it. I worry that he won't get the credit he deserves on a wider scale if he wins a fight like this, because nobody knows who Concepcion is.

Tony Bellew
Going in for a world title is always tough but going in against Concepcion is particularly tough because he is strong and a solid world champion.
What I will say he is you don't get any mugs winning titles in the lower weights, so Kal is up against it and in for a hard night. But he has had right amateur experience and pedigree and he will make it work for him on Saturday. It is now or never but I can see him nicking it on points.

[Chrismart]

The PPV running order : http://www.matchroomboxing.com/fight...shua-v-molina/

[BodiesInFlight]

Great breakdown by Paul Smith there

This is the fight of the card for me, cannot wait. I think Yafai is the goods, but his comp hasn't been the best so its going to be interesting to see what hes made of.

[Tom Cruise]

Great breakdown by Paul Smith there

This is the fight of the card for me, cannot wait. I think Yafai is the goods, but his comp hasn't been the best so its going to be interesting to see what hes made of.

Thats what I love about the pundits on sky. Real in depth knowledge.

Johnny Nelson commentating on the recent cruiserweight fights (Usyk and Lebedev ones) was tragic. You could tell he had no idea who they were. Do they not do briefing and research for this kind of stuff?

[Chrismart]

Sky's team is really poor IMO. For the most part anyway.

[LacedUp]

I think Yafai will win easier than people think. Foresee a stoppage in 5-6 rounds.

Concepcion is over the hill imo and I don't think he can provide much of a challenge to Yafai right now.

Didn't get the stoppage but easy as predicted.

[dan_cov]

What a performance. He looked spectacular.