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Mike Coppinger, ESPN Boxing Insider
Robson Conceicao and O’Shaquie Foster will meet in a 130-pound title rematch on Nov. 2 in Verona, New York, a source told ESPN.
The bout will headline Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+.
Conceicao (19-2-1, 9 KOs) won his first world title in his fourth bid but it came in highly controversial fashion, an unpopular split decision victory over Foster in July.
“I thought it was a shutout,” Foster, a 30-year-old fighting out of Houston, said afterward. “I thought it was an easy fight. I didn’t get touched except with a headbutt. … I want the rematch. They stole this from me.”
Now, he’s getting his rematch after the WBC ordered the return bout later in July. Foster (22-3, 12 KOs) was making the third defense of his WBC title. He’s rated No. 5 by ESPN at junior lightweight.
Brazil’s Conceicao, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, previously lost to Shakur Stevenson and Oscar Valdez in title challenges, though neither fight was contested on an even playing field. Stevenson was stripped of the title after he failed to make weight against Conceicao; Valdez tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug weeks before their fight.
Conceicao’s third title challenge was a draw with Emanuel Navarrete in November. He’s rated No. 3 by ESPN at 130 pounds.
“I do think I won the fight,” Conceicao, 35, said following the Foster fight. “He didn’t come to fight. He was running and running. I was the winner.”