WORLD-RANKED featherweight Bernabe Concepcion of the Philippines weighed in at 128 lb while his opponent Juan Carlos Martinez (18W-2L-1D, 7 KOs) of Mexico stepped in at 127 lb during yesterday’s official weigh-in paving the way for their non-title battle today at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
The match is scheduled on the eve of the highly anticipated Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley WBO welterweight world title bout also in Vegas.
Concepcion (28W-4L-1D, 15 KOs) will try to bounce back from a second round technical knockout loss he suffered in his failed WBO title fight against Juan Manuel Lopez of Puerto Rico last year. His eight-round fight against Martinez is in the undercard of the Diego Magdaleno-Gilberto Sanchez Leon main event.
Another Pinoy boxer scheduled to see action is Marlon Tapales (16W-1L, 5KOs) who weighed in at 114 lb while his opponent Alejandro Solorio (4W-4L, 3 KOs) of California came in at 113 lb.
Tapales’ first overseas fight is scheduled for six rounds. He spent time training in Baguio City and at the Rex “Wakee” Salud gym in Cebu City. Tapales is a former Philippine 108-lb division champion but has fought between 112 to 115 lb the past year.
/Correspondent Rene Bonsubre Jr.