Hernan ''Tyson'' Marquez kayoes Luis Concepcion early in rematch
Mexico's Hernan ''Tyson'' Marquez retained his WBA flyweight title with a sensational first round knockout over former champ Luis ''El Nica'' Concepcion at the Centro de Usos Multiples in Hermosillo, Mexico on Saturday night. The fight was a much anticipated rematch between the pair - Marquez had outlasted Concepcion in an eleven round, four-knockdown thriller earlier this year to win the title.
Their first fight back in April was held at the Arena Roberto Duran in Concepcion's home of Panama City. 26 year old ''El Nica'' (the Nicaraguan) was defending the title he had won six months earlier with a one round knockout over Thailand's Denkaosan Kaovichit.
Concepcion - who seems to have learned his boxing from watching videotapes of Vic Darchinyan and the late Edwin Valero - came out gunning for an early knockout - not surprising as he had ended his previous two contests in a round apiece, and was on a six bout knockout streak.
Like Darchinyan and Valero, Conception completely dispenses with the concept of 'boxing' per se, and strips it down to simply measuring his man with his left and blasting him with heavy right hands. So tough is the Nicaraguan born Panamanian that he is normally able to shrug off his opponent's counters as one would swat away flies, before landing his own right-hand bazooka-like blows.
That tactic had worked to virtual perfection during his five year career (he dropped a four round decision in his fourth pro bout), but in ''Tyson'' Marquez, Concepcion and was coming up against a whole different kind of animal.
How many 22-year-olds would square off against the Filipino sensation Nonito Donaire, for example? ''Tyson'' Marquez would, and did, fighting bravely for eight one-sided rounds before being TKO'd in a bout for the interim WBA super flyweight title in July 2010. It was clear after that performance that while the 5'2" Marquez was not quite in the league of current pound-for-pound top four rated Donaire, the youngster would be way too much for most flyweights.
Concepcion dropped Marquez with a heavy straight right flush on the chin midway through the first round. The Mexican beat the count but was clearly in serious trouble, and was tagged time and again with more vicious right-hand bombs. However, when Concepcion was throwing his shots, he was leaving himself wide open for counters, and the southpaw Marquez drilled him with a perfect left hook that dumped him on the seat of his pants seconds before the bell.
From that point on, Marquez had a game plan, and although he was forced to take more heavy blows during the next 10 rounds of the fight, he never again visited the canvas. Concepcion hit the deck in the third and again in the 10th, with a final barrage of punches in the eleventh forcing referee Luis Pabon to end the contest.
Both men had prepared for their rematch impressively – Marquez scored a third round TKO over Edrin Dapudong in a WBA flyweight title defense, while Concepcion blew away Manuel Vargas in 76 seconds.
In Saturday night's rematch, it was Concepcion who came out blasting, and for the first minute of the fight had things his own way. The referee broke the action to secure some loose tape on Concepcion's glove, and when the contest resumed, Marquez began once again to counter the Panamanian's big right hands to perfection.
As in the first fight, it was Marquez's left that did the damage. A series of blows scored the first knockdown, and then several more shots sent Concepcion reeling into the ropes, causing the referee to rightly give him a second count. Concepcion was clearly out on his feet, and two more thunderbolt lefts from Marquez put him down and out for the count.
Concepcion saw his record slip to 23-3 with 18 KO's, while Marquez improved his ledger to 32-2 with 25 KO's.
On this kind of form, Hernan ''Tyson'' Marquez could be calling the shots in the flyweight division for many years to come.
Dan Hunter is a lifelong boxing aficionado and our Boxing Editor.