In our main event, Rafael Concepcion of Panama faces the number one ranked Super Flyweight in the world, Nonito Donaire from the Philippines for the WBA Interim Super Flyweight Title. Concepcion failed to make weight therefore was ineligible to win the belt. It didn’t take long for the feeling out process to pass. After about the first minute of the first round Donaire began to be more aggressive and landed big shots. Concepcion, however, landed a big shot of his own which only seemed to anger Donaire who became even more aggressive. The second round was more even having both guys landing huge shots and Concepcion being cut over his left eye. There was little to no action in round three however Donaire did land a huge left uppercut. In round four, Donaire showed off his elusive defense as he dodged and slipped most of Concepcion’s punches. The end of the round saw a huge exchange of power punches with Donaire getting the better of it. Round five was a reversal of fortunes for Concepcion as he chased Donaire about the ring the entire round, landing a few meaningful punches. In round six, Donaire’s right hand seemed to bother him for he went nearly the entire round without throwing any right punches. Concepcion continued to chase and throw. The most exciting round thus far, round seven saw many exchanges, Concepcion seemed to get the best of Donaire who was very reluctant to throw his right. Round eight seemed to swing back into Donaire’s favor as he threw 4 meaningful rights that landed at the end of the round. Constantly the aggressor, Concepcion pressed the action throughout round nine although he caught with the more meaningful punches. Round ten was dominated throughout by Donaire as he landed numerous meaningful uppercuts. Towards the end of the round, however, Concepcion landed a few shots of his own. Round eleven was exciting with action going back and forth. No clear cut winner. The twelfth and final round was somewhat lackluster. Donaire danced around the ring and avoided confrontation until the very end of the round. 117-111, 115-113, 116-112 were the scores all in favor of the Filipino Flash, Nonito Donaire. Donaire improves his record to 22-1 with 14 knockouts while Concepcion dropped to 13-4-1 with 8 knockouts.
In the co-main event, Bernabe Concepcion of the Philippines met Champion Steven Luevano for the WBO World Featherweight Title. The early action was dominated by Concepcion who moved in and out, ala pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao, (both are trained by Freddie Roach) landing big shots on that flat footed Luevano. Rounds four and five seemed somewhat of a return to normalcy for Luevano who got his bearings about him and began working and landing his jab. In an unfortunate turn of events, the end of the 7th round saw Concepcion land a huge hook to the jaw as the bell rang. A few seconds after the bell, Concepcion swung and landed another big shot that floored Luevano. Concepcion was immediately disqualified by ref Jay Nady. Steven Luevano retains his belt by DQ and improves his
Orecord to 37-1-1 with 15 knockouts. Concepcion drops to 29-2-1 with 17 KO’s.
Our next bout was a 10 rounder in the welterweight division. Mark Melligen of the Philippines was very impressive in his 4th round stoppage of Ernesto Zepeda of Mexico with the official time of 2:40. The bloodied Zepeda could not stand up to the pressure as the fight was stopped simultaneously to him being dropped. Melligen improves to 16-1 with 12 knockouts and its back to the drawing board for Zepeda who drops to 39-13-4 with 32 KO’s.
Super lightweight was the division of the next fight that pitted undefeated D.C. fighter Anthony Peterson against Luis Arceo of Tijuana, Mexico. In a pretty even, back and forth match, it was Peterson who came out victorious by seemingly controversial scorecards of 98-92, 99-91, 97-93. Nonetheless Peterson improves his record to 29-0 with 19 KO’s while Arceo drops to 22-9-2 with 15 KO’s.
The second bout of the night featured two super feathers in a 6 rounder. Local favorite Diego Magdaleno preserved his undefeated record and improved to 11-0 with 3 knockouts as he dominated Carlos Vinan of New Jersey (8-8-1, 1 KO). Magdaleno won on all three scorecards 60-54.
Live boxing returns to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV! On the undercard in the first bout, Ukraine native Ismayl Sillakh (9-0, 8 KO’s) won by TKO at 1:55 in the second round over Ray Smith of Little Rock, Arkansas(9-4, 3 KO’s)