Former three-time world champion, Jorge “Travieso” Arce improved to 50-4-1 (39) put on a show to remember before a full house at the Arena Mexico on Mexico’s Independence Day (Monday), stopping a game Rafael “El Torito” Concepcion (now 11-4-1 with 7 KOs) via technical stoppage at the end of the ninth round and winning the WBA’s “interim” 115-pound title in the process.
Arce displayed a vicious and educated left hook body shot attack that had Concepcion reeling at the end of the first round.
The shorter Panamanian came back with a head attack of his own. Although mostly ineffective, and falling short at times, it showed Concepcion could hang in with the former 108- and 112-pound title holder.
A well-timed uppercut stunned Arce at the onset of the third, with the Mexican holding on while shaking off the after effects of the shot. Arce, who is a pressure fighter, slacked off for the rest of the round, with Concepcion coming back strong, landing head shots at the end of the round.
In the fourth, a left cross upstairs sent Arce into a corner, shaken up, and Concepcion pressed on, landing repeatedly until the popular Mexican fighter nearly went down on several occasions. Arce barely made his way back to his corner under extremely unsteady legs after the bell.
Not letting Arce off the hook, Concepcion stayed on the attack in the fifth landing the quality shots, and winning the round.
Shoving and straying very low, Arce showed his growing desperation against an opponent who proved extremely hard to back off in the sixth frame.
On the receiving end of a low blow in the following round, Arce stepped up the frenetic pace and was finally able to back off his foe, letting his hands go at the end of the round.
Remembering to work the body, Arce turned the tables in the eighth and ninth frames, rocking the defending title holder frequently. Finally showing signs of swelling around the eyes due to Arce’s fierce left hand body-and-head combinations, Concepcion was all but out on his feet at the bell.
The full house exploded in celebration as Arce was declared the new champion after Concepcion failed to come out for the 10th round.
In other results from the Independence Day card, once defeated Jorge ?Coloradito? Sol?s (36-1-2, 26 KOs) stopped Jorge Samudio (17-4-1, 7 KOs) in the fourth round of a scheduled 12-round WBA super bantamweight eliminator bout.
Incredibly, Solis, whose lone loss came at the hands of Manny Pacquiao in a 130-pound fight a little over a year ago, weighed in at 122 pounds for the this bout.
Tijuana’s skilled Jackie “The Aztec Princess” Nava (18-2-2, 10 KOs) halted Betina Garin (10-4-1, 2 KOs) in a woman’s WBC 122-pound interim title bout.
