O’Shaquie Foster is still reeling from losing his WBC super featherweight world title to number one contender Robson Conceicao last Saturday night via split decision after twelve rounds at the Prudential Center in Newark, Novel Jersey.
Foster’s later aide that he not only deserved the decision but should have won every round suggests a disconnect from the reality of what happened. He was outworked by Conceicao, which is why the judges awarded the victory to the talented Brazilian.
Conceicao wanted it more
After the fight, Conceicao said Foster “didn’t come to fight,” but moved and played defense. He’s right. Foster fought like a fighter who didn’t want to work firm.
That’s just his style though, as he’s barely scraped a win in his last two fights because he only managed to rally at the end after being crushed by Abraham Nova and Eduardo Hernandez.
Foster only trains part-time during fights because he doesn’t feel like putting in the firm work, something he paid for in his fight with the ambitious and well-trained 2016 Olympic gold medalist Conceicao.
Incredibly, Foster (22-3, 12 KOs) claimed after the fight that he had won every round, and the judges treated him cruelly by not awarding him the victory.
The judges scored it 116-112, 115-113 for Conceicao and 116-112 for Foster. My score was 117-111 in favor of Conceicao.
I watched the fight on a large screen TV and saw no issues with the two judges scoring it in favor of Conceicao (19-2-1, 9 KOs). He was the busier fighter, throwing punches, pressing the offense and keeping Foster on the ropes.
Foster’s Shakur Style: Defense Over Attack
Foster fought in his usual Shakur style, trying to make Conceicao miss and rarely landing any punches. His entire game was focused on defense, not landing any punches, but this was pure Shakur-eque from the Foster champion. You can’t win like that against a fighter who throws more and keeps you pinned to the ropes like Conceicao did.
In the championship rounds, Foster should have given it his all and landed some punches, but instead he held onto the ropes, trying to just make Conceicao miss and fight his way to what he believed was a decision victory.
It’s no surprise that Foster didn’t push firm in the final four innings, because if he thought he was throwing a shutout, why would he risk throwing? He was deceived and overconfident. Someone in his career should have taught him the importance of offense and getting off the line.
Ultimately, Foster had a stupid fight that cost him the belt. He did the same thing in his previous match with Abraham Nova, but won by decision, scoring a knockdown.
Defense doesn’t win fights
“He didn’t come to fight. He didn’t seem to want to fight me. I really wanted to fight him, so I went in to win and that’s it,” Conceicao told Fighthype about his victory over Foster.
“O’Shaqui’s fight, I tell my players that all the time. Defending is one thing, attacking is another,” said coach Kenny Ellis MillCity Boxingtalking about last Saturday’s fight, in which the talented Robson Conceicao finally got a fair chance with the judges, defeating the WBC super featherweight champion, Shakur-like O’Shaquie Foster, by split decision in a twelve-round fight.
Ellis brings up a good point. Defense doesn’t win fights. Letting go of your hands does, and Foster forgot that lesson. If you’re indolent and think you can win a fight just by defending, sooner or later you’re going to lose, and that didn’t happen to Foster.
“Defense will last you a long career, but because you’re sliding, you’re defending and you’re not scoring. That’s defense. You’re giving up hits. Every once in a while, Foster would come back with one or two,” Ellis said.
“He would do the shoulder roll, but he didn’t react like Floyd. Floyd would make you miss and pay. Every now and then Foster would come in with one shot here and there. The other guy [Conceicao] actually worked, and then you don’t know what the judges were looking at from their perspective.”
Foster tried to block and move with the punches that Conceicao was throwing. He didn’t counter anything and just kept going with the punches. When he attacked, he was always miniature and then went back into his shell.
I think the fans who were upset about Foster’s loss were his supporters and couldn’t see the truth even when it was right in front of them.
A Lesson for Foster
They didn’t want the ugly reality of their hero exposed by the hard-working Brazilian Conceicao, who learned early on that success comes from firm work. You can’t back down and expect victory to be handed to you on a silver platter.
“O’Shaquie is on the ropes and [judges] they look at him [Conceicao] back [throwing punches and being busier]. Even though he missed a few shots, they thought he was hitting. Defense is good, but hands win fights. He [O’Shaquie] “I didn’t get enough done yesterday,” Ellis said.
Conceicao landed a ton of punches, especially the right punches he landed on Foster. They kept going through him, and he kept attacking. Conceicao didn’t retreat to the ropes to rest and play dead like Foster.
“Go back and watch the fight. Yeah, he made him miss a lot of times. ‘Oh, look what I did.’ You don’t win. You just make the guy miss. Go back and make him miss and make him pay. He didn’t do that. He did it in fits and starts last night. That’s it. He wasn’t busy enough.
“Defense is a handsome thing, but you don’t win because you make someone miss. You don’t win. Hands win fights. He was fluid on his feet. He made people miss, but he didn’t respond with anything. I think they made the right decision,” Ellis said, believing the judges were right to award the win to Conceicao.
It’s great to have a defense, but if that’s all you have, it’s not enough if you’re fighting a good opponent and the judges are top-notch. Three worse judges could have given Foster a decision last Saturday, but not these three brilliant judges.
“His defense was good, but he didn’t come back with anything. I didn’t see a shutout now. It was in bursts,” Ellis said, responding to the report that Foster said after the fight that he felt he had thrown a shutout at Conceicao.
Foster’s entire game was based on dashing, being indolent, and letting Conceicao do all the firm work.
If Foster’s coach hasn’t warned him how grave his situation is, he should get rid of this person and find someone who understands the rhythm of the fight and can tell his fighter the bitter truth, even if he’s deluded that he’s winning on points.
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