Bernabe Concepcion was a decided underdog in his challenge to undefeated featherweight beltholder Juan Manuel Lopez on Saturday, however the 22-year-old vet possesses the kind of raw athleticism that made many think he could compete with the budding Puerto Rican star.

Concepcion (28-4-1, 15 knockouts) was competitive — for about 10 seconds at the end of the first round when he caught Lopez with a left hook that knocked the 5-to-1 favorite to the seat of his trunks.

However, Lopez (29-0, 26 KOs), THE RING’s No. 2-rated featherweight, exerted his dominance in the second round and Concepcion was stopped for the first time in his career.

The loss dropped Concepcion from No. 6 to No. 9 in THE RING’s 126-pound ratings.

“(Saturday’s fight) marked the second time in his last three fights that Concepcion lost,” said THE RING Managing Editor Joe Santoliquito. “Every time he’s stepped up and fought elite opponents, he’s had problems.”

Concepcion’s fall in the featherweight rankings was the most dramatic in week of minor movement in the magazine’s ratings.

FEATHERWEIGHT:

Concepcion’s demotion bumped up Yuriorkis Gamboa (seventh last week), Elio Rojas (eighth last week), and Daniel Ponce De Leon (ninth last week) each one place.

JUNIOR BANTAMWEIGHT:

Nonito Donaire (seventh last week) switches places with Kohei Kono (sixth last week) after recording an eighth-round TKO over Hernan Marquez ON THE Lopez-Concepcion undercard.

“Donaire has expressed that he’s going to move to bantamweight, but THE RING will not rate him there until he has a fight at 118 pounds and builds a solid resume at bantamweight,” Santoliquito said.