New Mexico Boxing

Zamora kayos knockout artist Conceicao

Joaquin Zamora of Socorro has not been matched up easy in Las Vegas in his last four fights—but he’s come home each time with a win.

The latest victory was on last night’s Guilty Boxing card at the South Coast Casino and Resort, Zamora racked up his fourth straight win on the road by defeating his toughest opponent yet in Brazilian knockout artist and former amateur star Cleiton Conceicao.

Conceicao, whose stopped seven of nine opponents, and won a minor World Boxing Council title in his last fight, found himself on the receiving end of the leather when, in the last round of a scheduled junior middleweight six-rounder, Zamora had him out on his feet at 1:18.

Zamora came out jabbing in a slow, tentative first round, fighting on the outside while Conceicao kept his guns holstered.

Zamora pressed the action in the second, but it was the Brazilian who landed the more meaningful punches, counterpunching harder left hooks and a right hand or two on Zamora. Two big rights landed on Zamora in the next round and, while trying to pick up points with jabs, the southpaw’s most effective punch, the straight left, was held back.

A low blow landed on Zamora early in the fourth and it might’ve served as a wake-up call, for after a few moments of rest, he resumed the fight with the right plan. Instead of hanging back on the outside, hoping to score points, Zamora fought in the pocket, denying the longer-reaching Conceicao a dangerous range while using his superior speed to outpoint the puncher. By the end of the fourth, Zamora was landing his big left hand.

It was more of the same in the fifth round, until the final ten seconds when Zamora let loose with a volley on Conceicao, who had his back to the ropes. The Brazilian appeared hurt, but fired back with his own big punches—left hooks, this time—that had Zamora stagger back a step or two as the bell rang.

Going into the sixth, Zamora was ahead—barely—on all three scorecards, but both fighters duked it out in the center of the ring in the best action seen yet. Big rights and a crushing left hook landed on Zamora, who took it well, then fired back with a left of his own, driving Conceicao against the ropes where an uppercut had the Brazilian in deep trouble. Sensing his chance to end the round early, Zamora followed through with an overhand left and that’s when Referee Toby Gibson jumped in to save Conceicao, who was, virtually, out on his feet.

The crowd booed what they thought was a premature stoppage but anyone ringside could see the Brazilian was finished when Gibson made the necessary call to stop the fight at 1:18.

“I knew it was a close fight going into the sixth so I turned up the heat,” Zamora said in the ring.

“He caught me with some good left hooks but when I hit him with that uppercut and overhand, I knew I had him.”

With the win, Zamora raises his record to 10-2-1, 8 KOs while Conceicao drops to 9-2, 7 KOs.

Romero falls again

Also on the card, Roman Romero (0-2) of Springer, took a beating in a scheduled four-rounder against Joey Silva (2-0, 1 KO) of Thornton, Colo.

Romero was game but Silva dropped him once, before pinning him in a corner and pounding away until the referee stopped the bout at 2:11 of the first.