When dangerous East Midlands puncher Martin Concepcion fought Birmingham’s ‘Sweet’ D Mitchell last year, at the impressive surroundings of the National Indoor Arena (NIA), the Leicester man emerged from a heart-stopping four-rounder with his hand raised, his career intact and his 13th professional victory in the bag.
Fast-forward 13 months and the pair met in Birmingham again, although at a different venue – Edgbaston’s Tower Ballroom – and over four rounds again. The only thing different about this 12-minute bout was that local stylist Mitchell had his glove lofted skywards at the end.
Swadlincote’s Rob Chalmers awarded the stocky Erdington-based light-middleweight a 39-37 decision, a verdict which infuriated Concepcion and was met with loud roars of disapproval from his large band of supporters, including brother Kevin, who’d made the trip from Leicester. For what it’s worth, I had Mitchell winning by the same two-point margin (giving him the first three stanzas).
And like their unforgettable first fight in June of last year, on the undercard of Amir Khan’s successful defence of his Commonwealth lightweight title against Michael Gomez, they served up four rounds of pulsating action that saw Concepcion’s heavier-hitting against Mitchell’s sharper boxing and better movement.
As well as the give-and-take action, their first fight saw the former Commonwealth 11st title challenger rattle Mitchell in the opening two rounds before finding himself starting up at the lights in the final three minutes, albeit from a shot that looked to have caught him off balance. He got up, won by a 39-38 margin, but had been inactive since.
There was talk of another crack at the Commonwealth crown if he managed to repeat his win over the 32-year-old Brummie. Concepcion swatted aside the current Commonwealth light-middleweight boss, Manchester’s Matthew Hall, inside a round in 2007 and Hall recently spoke of his need to avenge that defeat.
His conqueror’s loss to Mitchell, who didn’t take up boxing until he was in his mid-twenties, will have put those ambitions firmly to bed. But the Richie Woodhall-trained fighter’s ninth win in 13 pro outings (two via stoppage) could see him land a shot at a title of some description.
Other than the loss to Concepcion, now 13-6, his blemishes had come on injury to Gatis Skuja (avenged), a close six-rounder to Prince Arron (a fighter Mitchell was controlling until he faded in the last two rounds) and tall, long-armed Jack Arnfield (whose height and reach caused problems).
But his tactics in the rematch with the Leicester banger were bang on. He never gave Concepcion (11st 2lbs 7oz) any room to land with the type of punches that had left nine men with stoppage defeats on their ledgers, kept a high guard, used good head movement and landed a steady stream of solid leads and countering hooks.
Concepcion, 27, threw plenty of leather but most of it landed on the gloves and forearms of his pumped-up opponent. If boxing was scored on the amount of punches thrown during a fight, he would have probably chalked win 14 on his resume. But Mitchell, who holds a win over reigning Midland Area middleweight boss Tony Randell, may have thrown less but landed with more.
The second and third rounds of the contest saw Mitchell (11st 3lbs 3oz) at his best. Rolling under his harder-hitting opponent’s punches, D parried punches coming his way and cracked home hard counters that had Concepcion, trained by Jezz Brogan, backing off towards the ropes. Martin had a better final three minutes but it was too little too late.
A rubber match would be more than welcome.
Fast-forward 13 months and the pair met in Birmingham again, although at a different venue – Edgbaston’s Tower Ballroom – and over four rounds again. The only thing different about this 12-minute bout was that local stylist Mitchell had his glove lofted skywards at the end.
Swadlincote’s Rob Chalmers awarded the stocky Erdington-based light-middleweight a 39-37 decision, a verdict which infuriated Concepcion and was met with loud roars of disapproval from his large band of supporters, including brother Kevin, who’d made the trip from Leicester. For what it’s worth, I had Mitchell winning by the same two-point margin (giving him the first three stanzas).
And like their unforgettable first fight in June of last year, on the undercard of Amir Khan’s successful defence of his Commonwealth lightweight title against Michael Gomez, they served up four rounds of pulsating action that saw Concepcion’s heavier-hitting against Mitchell’s sharper boxing and better movement.
As well as the give-and-take action, their first fight saw the former Commonwealth 11st title challenger rattle Mitchell in the opening two rounds before finding himself starting up at the lights in the final three minutes, albeit from a shot that looked to have caught him off balance. He got up, won by a 39-38 margin, but had been inactive since.
There was talk of another crack at the Commonwealth crown if he managed to repeat his win over the 32-year-old Brummie. Concepcion swatted aside the current Commonwealth light-middleweight boss, Manchester’s Matthew Hall, inside a round in 2007 and Hall recently spoke of his need to avenge that defeat.
His conqueror’s loss to Mitchell, who didn’t take up boxing until he was in his mid-twenties, will have put those ambitions firmly to bed. But the Richie Woodhall-trained fighter’s ninth win in 13 pro outings (two via stoppage) could see him land a shot at a title of some description.
Other than the loss to Concepcion, now 13-6, his blemishes had come on injury to Gatis Skuja (avenged), a close six-rounder to Prince Arron (a fighter Mitchell was controlling until he faded in the last two rounds) and tall, long-armed Jack Arnfield (whose height and reach caused problems).
But his tactics in the rematch with the Leicester banger were bang on. He never gave Concepcion (11st 2lbs 7oz) any room to land with the type of punches that had left nine men with stoppage defeats on their ledgers, kept a high guard, used good head movement and landed a steady stream of solid leads and countering hooks.
Concepcion, 27, threw plenty of leather but most of it landed on the gloves and forearms of his pumped-up opponent. If boxing was scored on the amount of punches thrown during a fight, he would have probably chalked win 14 on his resume. But Mitchell, who holds a win over reigning Midland Area middleweight boss Tony Randell, may have thrown less but landed with more.
The second and third rounds of the contest saw Mitchell (11st 3lbs 3oz) at his best. Rolling under his harder-hitting opponent’s punches, D parried punches coming his way and cracked home hard counters that had Concepcion, trained by Jezz Brogan, backing off towards the ropes. Martin had a better final three minutes but it was too little too late.
A rubber match would be more than welcome.
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