Robson Conceicao responded to his first professional defeat by beating an undefeated contender Saturday night.
In his first fight since unbeaten WBC super featherweight champ Oscar Valdez defeated him, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist out-pointed Xavier Martinez in a high-stakes 130-pound encounter ESPN televised from Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The 33-year-old Conceicao contends he didn’t get proper credit on the scorecards versus Valdez, but judges Henry Ellick (99-91), Henry Gueary (100-90) and David Sutherland (98-92) all scored Brazil’s Conceicao (17-1, 8 KOs) a wide winner over Sacramento’s Martinez.
The 24-year-old Martinez (17-1, 11 KOs), who went off as a slight favorite, buzzed Conceicao with a left hook late in the third round. He otherwise was somewhat competitive, but Conceicao was the busier, more accurate boxer for much of their fight.
Martinez made his debut with Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc., which signed him to a multi-fight promotional agreement after his contract with Mayweather Promotions expired late last year.
Seemingly up on the cards, Conceicao continued to keep Martinez at a comfortable distance during the 10th round. He blocked most of Martinez’s punches in that round when Martinez came close enough to throw hard shots at him.
Martinez drilled Conceicao with a flush right on his temple when there was 2:10 on the clock in the ninth round. With just under 50 seconds to go in the ninth round, Martinez backed up Conceicao with a jab.
There was a lot of clinching during the eighth round, when neither fighter managed to land many clean punches.
Conceicao clipped Martinez with a left hook barely a minute into the seventh round. A left hook by Conceicao backed up Martinez with just under 20 seconds on the clock in the seventh round.
Martinez caught Conceicao with a counter right hand with 1:20 to go in the sixth round. Conceicao drilled Martinez with a right hand in an exchange just before the sixth round ended.
Martinez made Conceicao reset his feet after landing another left hook with just over 30 seconds to go in the fifth round. A left-right combination by Martinez also landed just before the fifth round concluded.
Conceicao caught Martinez with a left hook less than 10 seconds into the fourth round. By then, Conceicao seemed to have recovered from the left hook that hurt him late in the third round.
A left uppercut by Conceicao caught Martinez with just over two minutes remaining in the fourth round. Conceicao’s chopping left hand landed exactly at the midway mark of the fourth round.
Martinez’s left hook wobbled Conceicao toward the end of the third round. With about 40 seconds to go in the third round, Martinez caught Conceicao with a left hook.
Approximately 20 seconds later, Martinez landed a hard overhand right.
Conceicao defended himself well during the second round. Martinez consistently went after his body during that round, but didn’t have much success landing to his opponent’s head.
Martinez landed a left and a then a right to Conceicao’s body that made him reset his feet barely 30 seconds into their fight. Martinez countered Conceicao’s left hook with a right hand with just under 1:50 to go in the opening round.
Nine rounds later, Conceicao had at least moved himself back into position to fight the winner of an April 30 bout between Valdez (30-0, 23 KOs) and WBO junior lightweight champ Shakur Stevenson (17-0, 9 KOs).
Valdez overcame controversy to beat Conceicao less than a month after he tested positive for Phentermine, a stimulant banned by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. Mexico’s Valdez and Conceicao moved forward with their September 10 bout at Casino del Sol in Tucson, Arizona, because the Pascua Yaqui Tribe Athletic Commission is part of the Association of Boxing Commissions, which follows the World Anti-Doping Agency’s testing standards, not those established by VADA.
