CEBU CITY ? For more than an hour, Rafael ?El Torito? Concepcion tried to shed off an excess pound, and once he did he started looking forward to a good payday.
Concepcion, who earns $450 or P20,000 a month as a ground services agent at the Tocumen International Airport in Panama, didn?t say how much he?s getting here.
?But it?s good money,? he said, relaxing by way of signing and handing out pictures of him to Pinoy fans that came to see the official weigh-in Friday at the SM Cebu.
Concepcion works hard when there?s no fight to look forward to, and said he does it for his wife and baby girl. His father is a truck driver and his mother a teacher in Panama City.
?But I don?t want all the money in the world. All I want is the crown. Then if you have the crown, you can have the money,? said the 26-year-old southpaw.
Concepcion failed to make the 115-lb limit after three attempts, and was given two hours to make it. He was back before the deadline caught him, and weighed 115 lbs flat.
AJ ?Bazooka? Banal, fighting out of Tony and Michael Aldeguer?s ALA gym, had it smooth and easy, weighing exactly 115 lbs on his first try.
Concepcion said he didn?t expect any problem during the weigh-in because the Thursday night and the morning after he was at 115 using the scales in his hotel room.
?I don?t know why,? he said.
But it seems he wouldn?t have any problem at all despite the glitch, and by 6 p.m. said he had gone up so quickly to around 120 lbs, and expects to be at 125 lbs by fight time.
He described Banal as ?a great boxer? but admitted later on he?s the biggest fan of Roberto Duran (the legend from Panama) and Manny Pacquiao.
?I like Roberto Duran long time ago. But right now? It?s Manny Pacquiao. He?s the better (best) in the world. He?s from another world,? he said.
When the fight is over, he said he can?t wait to fly back home. But first he?ll have to fly to Los Angeles, and then New York where he trained a month for this fight.
?I will stay in New York three more days. Before it was always apartment to the gym to the apartment. Now I want to see the Statue of Liberty, Central Park and World Trade,? he said.
