Was O’Shaquie Foster robbed of his WBC title against Robson Conceicao?

Round 1

Foster was using nifty footwork to circle away from Conceicao’s punches, then darting in with a right and straight lefts. He was short with most of his punches but did get through with a good left hook. Conceicao was too slow to cut off the ring and Foster was able to dance away leaving Conceicao lunging in vain. 

Score: 10-9 Foster

Round 2

Conceicao scored with a clubbing left, but Foster was spearing him with jabs and scored with a right to the head. Foster connected with jabs to head and body and dodged Conceicao’s long rights and had a very thin edge in a close round.

Score: 10-9 Foster (Foster 20-18)

Round 3

Conceicao upped his pace and landed some body punches as he did a better job of cutting off the ring. Conceicao came forward, throwing punches and landed to the body, with Foster off target with his jabs. Conceicao kept stabbing out his jab and Foster hardly threw a punch.

Score: 10-9 Conceicao (Foster 29-28)

Round 4

Conceicao was still lunging forward with his jab and landed a right to the head. Foster was in defensive mode darting away from Conceicao’s punches but not countering. Foster finally began to let his hands go scoring with a little bunch of punches and followed a jab with a right to the head.

Score: 10-9 Foster (Foster 39-37)

Official Scores after four rounds: Judge Tony Lundy 38-38, Judge Ron McNair 39-37 to Foster, Judge Paul Wallace 39-37 to Conceicao.

Round 5

There is nothing fancy about Conceicao. He is crude but very strong, and he tends to overreach with his punches. He was reaching here but was having some success with his jab and connected with two hard rights. They traded punches a couple of times, with both landing and then Conceicao connected with a right.

Score: 10-9 Conceicao (Foster 48-47)

Round 6

Foster stood his ground more, using his hand speed to score with quick, lighter punches. When he did back up, he landed counters as Conceicao came forward. Both scored with rights, and Conceicao threw a burst of punches, but a few got through as Foster turned away or deflected them.

Score: 10-9 Foster (Foster 58-56)

Round 7

Both scored early but Foster was easily evading Conceicao’s punches and Conceicao was taking a long step forward when throwing his rights so Foster was able to see them coming and stepped inside with shorter punches. Foster was throwing less but with a higher degree of accuracy. 

Score: 10-9 Foster (Foster 68-65)

Round 8

Conceicao was coming forward throwing long jabs with Foster circling him pinging him with quick, light shots. A brief exchange saw both land, then Foster moved around Conceicao landing a bunch of shots. Conceicao forced Foster to the ropes but Foster slid away and landed a right. Conceicao kept chasing but was off target.

Score: 10-9 Foster (Foster 78-74)

Official Scores: Judge Tony Lundy 78-74 to Conceicao, Judge Ron McNair 77-75 to Foster, Judge Paul Wallace 77-74 to Conceicao.

Round 9

Conceicao advanced with purpose letting fly and landing some good lefts and rights. Foster was countering but Conceicao kept throwing long jabs and heavy rights and outworked Foster. There was a clash of heads with both cut over their right eye.

Score: 10-9 Conceicao (Foster 87-84)

Round 10

Conceicao chased Foster to the ropes and fired a burst of body punches, with most blocked. Conceicao continued to fire combinations which he had not done in the early rounds. Foster curled a nice right around Conceicao’s guard and scored with a jab. Foster snapped Conceicao’s head back with a jab and slid away from Conceicao and again curled a right around Conceicao’s guard.

Score: 10-9 Foster (Foster 97-93)

Round 11

Conceicao applied plenty of pressure from the start throwing long jabs and coming in behind them with rights and lefts. Conceicao scored with hooks from both hands and although Foster scored with a couple of counters, Conceicao kept up the pressure, with Foster struggling to put any punches together.

Score: 10-9 Conceicao (Foster 106-103)

Round 12

Conceicao was chasing Foster throwing jabs and rights and loading up on every punch. Foster was more accurate but was kept busy fending off Conceicao’s punches. Conceicao was throwing lots of shots and Foster was struggling to find punching room and it was clearly Conceicao’s round.

Score: 10-9 Conceicao (Foster 115-113)

Official Scores: Judge Tony Lundy 116-112 to Conceicao, Judge Ron McNair to 116-112 Foster, Judge Paul Wallace to 115-113 Conceicao.

Eric’s analysis: Brazilian Conceicao was having his fourth shot at winning a title, having previously lost to Oscar Valdez and Stevenson and drawn with Emanuel Navarrete. Getting a fourth shot shows he is getting the benefit from being a Top Rank fighter. 

Shakur Stevenson (L) and Robson Conceição (R) exchange punches during their fight at Prudential Center on September 23, 2023 in Newark, New Jersey (Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)

Foster was making the third defence of the WBC title. Some saw it as robbery but for me he was the winner but only by a small margin.