Martin Concepcion has been forced to pull out of his challenge for the English middleweight title.
The Leicester puncher [pictured landing a left against Steve O'Meara in Prizefighter last year] was set to face champion Nick Blackwell on a First Team-promoted bill at Trowbridge Civic Hall, Wiltshire, on December 17.
But a knee injury has ended the immediate English title ambitions of always-entertaining Concepcion, 30, who punched his way back into contention with a nine-round drubbing of streaking fellow East Midlander Matt Hainy in Leicester three months ago.
In his maiden fight at middleweight, the chin-or-be-chinned former British and Commonwealth 11st title challenger, 18-9 (11), sent Hainy crashing to the four times, sliced him above both eyes and relieved him of his Midland Area title after a brutal affair that referee Rob Chalmers ranks up there with the best fight he's ever seen.
That was Concepcion's first win in 15 months, following stoppage reversals to Sam Webb [in 11] and, in February, what many thought was a career-ending defeat to impressive Eastern European Sergey Rabchenko [in two], after a career spent operating exclusively at light-middleweight.
He'd captured the Area title at the weight and also ended the undefeated run of future Commonwealth boss Matthew Hall, as well as engaging Kevin Hammond in a brace of ten-round wars. But the move to 11st 6lbs, on the evidence of his last performance, seemed to bring a new vitality to the big-hitting Leicester boxer, who'll have to now wait and see if he'll get penciled in for another crack at the English crown next year.
Image courtesy of Matchroom Sports.
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