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| Kenneth Llover stares at Luis Concepcion after knocking him down early in their bout. Joseph Sanvictores |
MANILA--Kenneth Llover moved closer to his world title aspirations with a knockout win against Luis Concepcion on Sunday night at the Winford Resort and Casino Ballroom.
Amid surprise weigh-in concerns, Llover showed as if he is well conditioned, staggering his Panamanian opponent with knockdowns in Rounds 2 and 3.
However, Concepcion, a former two-division world champion, showed toughness later on and even had some bright moments in Round 6.
Llover, though, found his rhythm in Round 7, and by Round 8, a multiple-punch combination left Concepcion too groggy enough, prompting referee Danilo Lopez to call it a night at the 2:27 mark of the said round.
The 22-year-old General Trias native stayed perfect in his promising boxing career as he moved up to 15-0 with 10 knockouts, scoring his third consecutive stoppage.
Llover's promoter, Gerry Penalosa, confirmed that he will next face Landi Ngxeke in an IBF title eliminator on Oct. 26.
Concepcion, on the other hand, dropped to 40-12.
In the undercard matches, Ken Danila and Teodoro Atienza, both also under Penalosa's fold, scored knockout wins to keep their records impressive.
Danila, now 6-0 with five KOs, connected on a rocking body shot to finish off Lawrence Ordonio, almost two minutes into their bout, supposedly scheduled for six rounds.
Atienza, on the other hand, edged the tough Sherwin Lombres by a fifth-round knockout, improved to 3-1 with 3 finishes.
The curtain raiser saw pro boxing debutants Israel Balisacan and Reymond Banquiao battling to a majority draw.
