August 19, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Contemporary from disposing of former two-time world champion Luis Concepcion, unbeaten IBF No. 8 bantamweight Kenneth (Lover Boy) Llover is now a step nearer to sealing a crack on the IBF belt however it’s nonetheless a win away.
Llover floored Concepcion twice en path to notching a TKO win at 2:27 of the eighth spherical on the Winford Resort and On line casino Manila final Sunday. A left hook to the jaw despatched the Panamanian down within the second body and a proper uppercut to the chin produced one other journey to the canvas within the third. Llover, a southpaw, displayed energy in each fists. However Concepcion survived the knockdowns, battled again like a proud warrior and as Llover appeared to lose steam, stepped up his assault. Llover, nevertheless, obtained his second wind and within the eighth, left Concepcion defenseless beneath a barrage of unanswered energy pictures, prompting referee Carlo Baluyut to step in.
The IBF 118-pound strap will likely be relinquished by champion Junto Nakatani who has introduced his determination to maneuver as much as the superbantamweight division. Picked to dispute the soon-to-be vacant throne are No. 3 Jose Salas Reyes of Mexico and No. 6 Riku Masuda of Japan. In a title eliminator, Llover will face No. 5 Landile Ngxeke of South Africa in a Koki Kameda promotion in Kyrgyzstan on Oct. 26. The winner of the Reyes-Masuda combat will make his first title protection towards the survivor of the Llover-Ngxeke bout.
Kameda was at ringside when Llover took out Concepcion and co-promoted the occasion with Gerry Peñalosa. The bout was aired dwell on OneSports and Journey TV in Japan. Peñalosa mentioned it was providential that Llover obtained a exercise over eight rounds with Concepcion as in his two earlier outings, he gained by a primary spherical KO. “Price each greenback we paid Concepcion,” mentioned Peñalosa. “He went down twice however by no means backed off. We needed a take a look at for Kenneth. Once we contacted Concepcion, he had a number of take-it-or-leave-it calls for. He requested to come back at the very least 9 days earlier than the combat to acclimatize and his purse of $25,000 was non-negotiable. He was decided to win.”
Llover, 22, mentioned after scoring two knockdowns, he couldn’t consider Concepcion was nonetheless standing. “Ang tibay niya, ayaw sumuko,” he mentioned. “Bugbog serado na siya hanggang tinigil ng referee.” Concepcion, 39, was rescued from additional punishment by Baluyut and earned each penny of his paycheck.
