SAN ANTONIO – A bloodied and battered Jorge Arce lost to defending WBC superflyweight champion Cristian Mijares at the Alamodome here Saturday night but won the heart of beauteous Carima Gutierrez who will be his bride in a June wedding.
Arce, 27, suffered an ugly gash on the bridge of his nose in the ninth round but refused to back down despite blood spewing out of the huge cut. He was a portrait of courage in finishing the bout on his feet even as Mijares swept the last seven rounds in two of the three judges’ scorecards.
There was never any doubt that Mijares was the superior boxer. Arce, like a pocket-sized Roberto Duran, bored in repeatedly, looking for a crack in the defense to land one knockout blow. But Mijares proved too shifty, too elusive. Arce was frustrated all night long.
The judges’ scoring wasn’t close. Duane Ford saw it 119-109, Mark Green 118-110 and Tom Kaczmarek 117-111. Although the fight was one-sided, the fans enjoyed every second of the action as Arce posed a constant threat because of his vaunted one-punch knockout power.
“It wasn’t my night,” said Arce, quoted by Jerry Briggs of the San Antonio Express-News. “I have no excuses. He was just a better man that night. But I’ll be back.”
The cut Arce suffered was similar to the wound inflicted by Hussein Hussein on the Mexican gladiator in their first meeting in Las Vegas two years ago. The left side of Arce’s nose bridge was cut by a right hook in the fifth round and his face was turned into a crimson mask. Arce pleaded with the ringside physician to allow him to continue and since the blood was not obstructing his vision, the fight went on.
In the eighth round, Hussein appeared to be on the verge of scoring a knockout but Arce stormed back to land a left hook that broke the Australian’s jaw. Two rounds later, Arce stopped Hussein in a brutal ending. In a rematch later that year, Arce halted Hussein in two rounds.
What makes Arce a crowd-pleaser is his never-say-die attitude. He’s an all-action fighter. There’s never a dull moment in his fights, whether he’s winning or losing. He’s a throwback to the bareknuckle brawlers whose vocabulary didn’t include retreat or surrender.
Arce, one of four sons, was introduced to boxing by WBO superflyweight champion Fernando Montiel’s father Manuel when he was eight years old. But it was when he was 10 that Arce decided to take boxing seriously after his mother spoke to a psychologist about his hyperactive behavior.
Then, when Arce was 12, his father Oscar was injured in a work-related accident. While he was soldering, something exploded in his face.
In the hospital, Arce told his father – fighting for his life – that if he survived, he would give him a world title. Seven years later, Arce became the WBO lightflyweight champion.
“My father wanted to be a boxer but it didn’t happen for him,” said Arce. “He came from a family of 20. They were very poor so they made him work and he never got the chance to become a boxer which was his dream. I became a boxer for him.”
Arce, who is divorced, has a six-year-old daughter Michelle. He will marry Gutierrez in June.
Flamboyant and personable, Arce never fails to enter the ring wearing a black cowboy hat and sucking on a lollipop. He’s known to be fun-loving outside the ring and fearlessly fierce inside. Arce’s aggressive style is reflective of his nickname “travieso” which means mischievous.
“I was a very hyperactive kid,” he said. “I was always getting into trouble somewhere here and there, pulling girls hair, making everybody cry, hitting them. They called me a menace which is what travieso means.”
Arce turned pro at 16 and was an instant celebrity. He gained a spot in the Mexico reality TV series “Big Brother” in 2003 and finished third in the public voting as to whom will stay in the house. Arce also sang in a band, appeared on TV’s “Dancing for a Dream” and worked as a boxing TV commentator.
Arce said he’s hard to beat because it’s like fighting two against one. “I feel like my father is inside me,” he explained. “I feel like every time I go into the ring, my father’s with me. To beat me, you have to beat someone very special and someone who wants it more than you do. I feel like you’re fighting two people when you’re fighting me.”
With his ring earnings as one of Top Rank’s main attractions, Arce has bought a candy store for one of his two older brothers and a tour bus going around Mexico City for his father. His youngest brother Francisco is also a prizefighter.
As the crowd favorite, Arce disappointed his fans by not being able to repulse Mijares who constantly beat him to the punch. But his loss was nothing to be ashamed of. Arce put on a courageous stand which the crowd acknowledged with a round of applause at the final bell.
The loss dropped Arce’s record to 46-4-1, with 35 KOs. His previous defeats were to Omar Nino Romero by knockout, Victor Burgos on points and Michael Carbajal by knockout.
Arce proved there is dignity in losing if you go down fighting.
