F. Arce headlines in Mexico
Francisco “Pachito” Arce, the younger brother of the three-time world Jorge “Travieso” Arce, will be in action this Saturday in Toluca, Mexico as he takes on William de Souza of Panama in a 10 round super flyweight bout tha will be telecast to all of Mexico by TV Azteca. The younger Arce is due to fight an IBF eliminator early next year against Simphiwe Nongqayi of South Africa at 115 pounds. If Francisco wins the fight and his brother Jorge beats Vic Darchinyan in February, he would then be the mandatory contender for his brother’s title. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself. First I need to win this Saturday, because if I don’t do that all my plans for 2009 will be gone”, said Arce, who trains in Los Angeles. In the co-main event former world champion Eric Ortiz (29-8-2, 18 KOs) will take on Juan Alfonso Keb (31-9-2, 20 KOs) and in another fight Jorge “Ratón Páez (20-2, 12 KOs), the son of the former champion Jorge “Maromero” Paez, will take on Juan Carlos Martínez (10-8, 6 KOs). The fight will take place at the Esplanada in Toluca and will be promoted by Promociones Zanfer and local promoter EMIR.
Darchinyan-Arce on Feb 7!
A must-see matchup that fans, media and the fighters themselves have been clamoring for will take place when two of boxing’s biggest little men and hardest punchers, Vic Darchinyan and Jorge Arce, clash on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009, live on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING (SHOWTIME, 9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast). Darchinyan’s newly acquired 115-pound IBF/WBC/WBA world titles will be on the line. The once-beaten Darchinyan (31-1-1, 25 KOs), of Sydney, Australia, by way of Armenia, will be making his first defense since unifying the 115-pound division with a demonstrative ninth-round knockout over Mexico’s Cristian Mijares Nov. 1, 2008, on SHOWTIME. Darchinyan, who entered the ring as the IBF champion, walked out with Mijares’ WBC and WBA belts after blowing away the favored champion in a career-defining performance. The popular, crowd-pleasing Arce (51-4-1, 39 KOs), of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, is the current WBA interim super flyweight champion and is a former WBC 115-pound and WBO 108-pound titleholder. Arce has been victorious in five consecutive fights, including a fourth-round TKO over Isidro Garcia Nov. 1, 2008, to capture the interim WBA strap, and has won 31 out of his last 32. The only loss during his scintillating run came on a 12-round decision to Mijares on April 14, 2007. The 12-round world title fight, co-promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, LLC, and Bob Arum’s Top Rank, Inc., will take place at a site to be announced.