Robson Conceicao told O’Shaquie Foster about the value of hard work in his final press conference today ahead of the defense of his WBC super featherweight title in their rematch on Saturday.
Credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank Boxing)
The two meet this Saturday, November 2 at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York. Conceicao wants to finish what he started, beating the slacker Foster and showing that to be a world champion, you have to work hard. He has the Brazilian attitude of hard work.
Former WBC champion Foster (22-3, 12 KOs) admitted he didn’t want to make the effort to let his hands down to get the crowd going in his fight earlier this year on July 6 in Newark, New Jersey. and ended up losing a split decision in 12 rounds.
Foster couldn’t figure out why he lost after all these months, and kept complaining that he should have won. During today’s press conference, Brazilian Conceicao (19-2-1, 9) explained to Foster, like a coach talking to one of his fighters, that he didn’t throw enough punches and ran only around the ring.
He didn’t want to work hard and thought he could win by hitting and running. He felt like he’d turned into Shakur Stevenson and forgotten that the judges wouldn’t give him the same favorable treatment they gave him.
“This fight is personal to me because I feel that a champion is a fighter who goes out and doesn’t run, who looks for the fight, who tries to win, and doesn’t just throw one or two punches and then walk away,” he said. Conceicao on Foster.
I don’t think Foster can work harder than him. It seems that Foster no longer has the fight in him after his war with slugger Eduardo Hernandez on October 28 of last year in Cancun, Mexico. Hernandez hurt Foster several times in that fight with big shots, forcing him to rally in the 12th round to get a knockout. Even with all the defensive work Foster did, he was hit hard by Hernandez.
This fight took a lot out of the 31-year-old Foster, who hasn’t looked like the same fighter since his matches against Abraham Nova and Conceicao. In both contests, Foster did not let go of his hand, and in several big shots.
Nova put it on Foster from rounds eight through twelve and did more than enough to defeat him earlier this year on February 16th. The judges gave Foster a split decision over 12 rounds, but he deserved a defeat. It was the same situation when Foster fought Conceicao. He didn’t pitch, and it was all he could do to squeeze in a few shots. This goes back to the Eduardo Hernandez fight. He took something from Foster.
“This time, I have no doubt in my mind that I will do a better job and represent Brazil better,” Conceicao told the media about his rematch with Foster. “I didn’t feel much power. He has a good defense and a good jab; he is very technical but not very powerful.
“Foster’s defense is complicated and challenging. If he says he’s going to hit more, that’s what I expect. If that’s the case, it will be much more interesting. It was the fight that I had prepared myself for the first time.”
Foster can’t hit anymore because he’s not an advanced fighter type. He can fight in short bursts like he did against Eduardo Hernandez in the 12th round, but that was a rare occasion. He doesn’t fight like that and he never will. If he tried to fight like this against Conceicao, he would be defeated.
“If he does this the second time, great,” Conceicao said. “That’s what I would like to see because it would be a more interesting and better fight for the public. I’m ready. Let’s see if he does this time. I’m ready.
“I feel that this fight will be tougher and much more competitive, and that’s what I feel,” Conceicao said.
