UNBEATEN budding star Kenneth Llover is in for a tough fight as he faces former two-division world champion Luis Concepcion of Panama on Aug. 17, 2025, at the Windford Resort and Casino in Manila.
“This will be a good fight. This should be a good test for Kenneth fighting against Concepcion,” two-division world champion and Gerrypens Promotions head Gerry Peñalosa, who handles Llover’s career, told SunStar Cebu. “It will give him a lot of experience. (But) this will (also) be a dangerous fight.”
The 22-year-old Llover is one of the most promising young fighters in the country right now. He’s currently ranked No. 10 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and No. 15 by the World Boxing Council (WBC) in the bantamweight division.
Llover won the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) bantamweight title with a first-round demolition of experienced Japanese fighter Keita Kurihara last March 24, 2025, in Japan.
Meanwhile, Concepcion was a dominant figure in the late 2000s and most of the previous decade. He became the interim WBA flyweight champion in 2009 after stopping Orlando Salado in the 12th round in Panama City.
Concepcion successfully defended his interim belt thrice before losing to Hernan “Tyson” Marquez in a bout for the regular WBA title in 2011, marking the start of a heated rivalry between the two boxers.
Later that same year, Concepcion dethroned Marquez from his throne by knocking him out in the first round of their rematch in Mexico to claim the regular WBA flyweight crown.
In 2015, Concepcion moved up in weight to challenge Carlos Cuadras for the WBC super-flyweight title in Mexico but came up short. He bounced back in his next fight, stopping the late David Sanchez in the 10th round to win the interim WBA super-flyweight title, which he later defended against Marquez in their trilogy bout.
Concepcion eventually became the regular WBA super-flyweight champion, his second division world title, after a unanimous decision win over Kohei Kono in Japan.
In 2020, Concepcion went back down to flyweight and won the interim title again with an 11th-round technical knockout of Rober Barrera. He went for the regular WBA flyweight strap the following year but lost to Artem Dalakian via ninth-round stoppage in Ukraine.
Concepcion saw mixed results in his final three bouts between 2022 and 2023 - beating unheralded Juan Lopez, then losing to Marquez by split decision in their fourth fight and to David Cuellar via eighth-round technical knockout.
Since then, the 39-year-old Concepcion has been inactive for almost two years.
Should Llover pull off a win against Concepcion, Peñalosa sees it as a major step toward a world title shot.
“Around two or three more fights. For sure, next year, we will bring the world title fight here in the Philippines,” said Peñalosa. “Kenneth is ranked in the WBC and IBF. We’ll focus on those boxing bodies
for now.”
Llover is 14-0 with nine knockouts, while Concepcion is 40-11 with 29 knockouts.