SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Bernabe Concepcion said he wants to follow Manny Pacquiao’s footsteps.
On Saturday night, he moved in that direction by hammering out a unanimous decision over Benjamin Flores Saturday in the opening bout of the star-studded Blaze of Glory card at the Alamodome.
The 19-year-old Filipino, who trained hard at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles in the month leading to the fight, used powerful right uppercuts and good body shots to control his taller opponent in his second fight in the US.
With the victory, Concepcion kept his World Boxing Council youth bantamweight crown he won over Mexican Joksan Hernandez in the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Erik Morales bout in Las Vegas last November.
Concepcion, from Catanduanes, rocked the 22-year-old Texan with a left and right to the side of the body followed by a right uppercut midway in the fourth round. Flores wobbled back and tried to stay on his feet by clinging to the Filipino the rest of the way.
Concepcion, however, failed to finish off Flores who managed to get back into the contest by landing good, clear punches in the closing rounds. At times Concepcion looked in trouble but managed to get away.
In the ninth round, the Filipino was pinned in a neutral corner. He got tagged a couple of times, but even taunted the Texan, egging him to throw some more. It was clear that Concepcion can take the punches.
In the end, all three judges had the Filipino winning in their scorecards, 97-93, 96-94, 97-93.
After the fight, Concepcion said he hurt his right hand in the second round and felt the pain each time it landed.
Concepcion trained alongside Pacquiao at Wild Card and stayed in the champion’s expensive La Palazzo apartment throughout their stay in LA. Aljoe Jaro and Buboy Fernandez worked his corner during the fight.
Concepcion improved his ring record to 20 wins, a loss and a draw while Flores, two inches taller, dropped to 14 wins and three losses.
Concepcion and Pacquiao ran together in the morning and shared meals on the table. They did the same thing when they got to San Antonio last week.
Many observed that Concepcion ’s build is very similar to Pacquiao’s. They also believe that the 5-foot-4 youngster may be following Pacquiao’s footsteps.
Saturday’s victory was a first step in that direction.
“I really learned a lot from Manny. I trained with him and he shared with me most of the things he knows in boxing. I’m very thankful for that opportunity,” said Concepcion in Filipino.
On the eve of the fight, Pacquiao gave Concepcion more lessons in boxing, and in life.
“Ilagay mo sa isip at puso mo lahat ng sinasabi ko sa iyo. (Everything I tell you, put them in your mind and in your heart),” said Pacquiao, clearly convinced that Concepcion has what it takes to shine.
Concepcion just did.
