Breaking Down the Donaire vs Concepcion Fight

August 11th, 2009

On August 15th Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire (win 21 (KO 14) -
lost 1- draw 0) current IBF and IBO flyweight champion will square off against Rafael “El Torito” Concepcion (win 13 (KO 8) –lost 3 – draw 1) former WBA interim superflyweight champion, in what was billed as PINOY POWER2. Without further ado, let’s look at each fighter closely by examining their previous fights.

When the name Rafael Concepcion's name is brought up, it reminds me of the
gutsy guy who won over AJ “Bazooka” Banal, and the fighter who gave
Jorge “El Travieso” Arce one tough fight. Too bad I wasn't able to
find any videos of Concepcion's last two fight werein he won against
Emerson Nisperusa via 2nd round TKO and against Kermin Guardia via
8round unanimous decision. Concepcion is a slugger that keeps going forward, swinging and winging those left hooks, and looping right punches. He likes to fight on the inside, banging the body regularly and will keep throwing those clubbing punches to the head. You will rarely see Concepcion throw straight left jabs or right straights. And I’ve never seen Concepcion fight from the outside.

When Rafael fought AJ Banal, Banal lost that fight mainly because of
Banal’s doing. Banal just let Concepcion come to him and allowed to
get hit to the body ever since the early rounds. It may not have an
effect during the early stages of the fight, but any fight fan knows
an accumulation of hits to the body will soon wear any fighter down.
And that’s exactly what happened. By the 10th round, AJ Banal’s legs
looks like made of jelly. As credit to Rafael Concepcion, he kept
coming forward, relentless in his attacks. He kept punching and
pounding eventhough he gets hit on a regular basis. Concepcion’s punch
to Banal’s temple was just icing on the cake of Banal’s own destruction. Banal took a knee and shook his head gesturing that he resigned from the fight.

In the Arce fight against Concepcion, Rafael was actually winning the
fight in the early stages of that encounter. He was hitting Arce with
those wild left hooks and right hands. And I’ve seen Jorge Arce get
rocked numerous times when Rafael Concepcion was able to hit him. From
a fight fans’ point of view, Rafael seems to put his full weight in
his punches to put more power into his strikes. Those kinds of punches
coming from Concepcion are what staggered Arce during the initial
stanzas of their fight. Though they look heavy, they don’t seem to
“sting” Arce. Some guys can throw flickering punches that doesn’t look
that heavy, yet can sting their opponents and knock them out (think
Muhammad Ali and Manny Pacquiao). Some guys, like Concepcion, would
hit their opponents with heavy punches, yet the effect would be like
“clubbing and pushing” kind of hits. Although Arce got rocked and
staggered on numerous occasions in that fight, he was never really in
trouble and was able to shake those hits off. Although Arce did got
hit, Jorge Arce showed that he has more defensive skills than
Concepcion and was able to duck, slip and counter many of Rafael’s
punches. Rafael Concepcion was eating all those left hooks and right
straights Arce was throwing at him. I didn’t see any defense whatsoever displayed by Concepcion in that fight. No head and body movements, no bobbing and weaving, no parrying and blocking, no slipping and no quick footwork, nadda! He just kept coming forward receiving Jorge Arce’s punches just to deliver punishment coming from his side. He tries to make his offense his best defense. And he just goes backwards when he is taking
punishments. Rafael Concepcion threw power shots after power shots in
that fight, that’s why he was winning up to the round 6. By the 7th
round, Rafael Concepcion seemed to be punched out. He was panting,
breathing from his mouth, holding and trying to move away. This
prompted Arce to step up his attack that made Concepcion’s eyes swell
and shut. By the end of round 9, the fight had to be stopped because
Concepcion cannot see from his swollen eyes.

How well will Rafael Concepcion do against a counter-puncher in the
character of Nonito Donaire? Let’s take a look at Donaire closely.

On the other hand, Nonito Donaire gained prominence when he knocked
out the previously undefeated slugger in the form of Vic Darchinyan to
win the IBF and IBO flyweight titles. And in his next 3 fights after
that was nothing short of impressive. His counter-punching style is
reminds me of Juan Manuel Marquez with a certain “Pinoy flavor”.

Nonito dominated Luis Maldonado from the beginning of their fight
using his ring smarts, accurate counter-punching and effective
footwork. He punished Maldonado, causing cuts above Luis' both eyes.
Donaire dropped Maldonado in the 7th round of the fight with a wicked
looping left hook. In round 8, Nonito kept pounding Maldonado and the
referee called a halt to the fight.

In the Mthalane fight, proved to be a tougher fight for Nonito. Moruti
Mthalane was a game fighter who keeps coming forward. Again, Nonito
showed superior defensive skills and counter-punching. In round 6,
Nonito hit Mthalane with a perfectly timed left hook that connected to
the eye which caused a deep cut. Later on, the cut was examined by the
ring physician and called a halt to the fight.

Raul Martinez was undefeated when he fought Nonito Donaire. Yet again,
Nonito Donaire displayed brilliant counter-punching skills, with
accuracy and power. Donaire knocked out Martinez in only 4rounds of
their fight.

How will the fight goes down this weekend between Nonito Donaire vs
Rafael Concepcion?

This shall be Rafael Concepcion's chance to show the world that he is
a contender in the sport. He will be the hungrier fighter in this
encounter. But if styles make fights, Rafael Concepcion's style is
tailor fit for Nonito Donaire. Seeing Rafael get hit regularly by
those left hooks from Banal and Arce, Nonito's single left hook can
knock out a "Raging Bull"! Nonito's punches are text book execution.
The power comes from firm stable stance and leg movements, momentum
travels through the hips and torso, then end up with damaging power
into the punching fists, delivered in less than a split second. Each
one of Nonito's punches both left and right can sting, unlike Rafael's
heavy punches that club and push. Nonito will box smartly in this
fight and punish Rafael with those left hooks, uppercut and shots to
the body. I don't see this fight going the full distance. Early to mid
rounds KO win by Donaire.