Amongst all the threats of doom and destruction from his opponent, Jorge ‘Travieso’ Arce has taken the philosophy of one Alfred E. Neuman, ‘What, me worry?’ No matter what comes out of the mouth of Vic Darchinyan, Arce is unfazed by the smoldering intensity exuded by ‘the Raging Bull’.
On Saturday night, Arce will attempt to take Darchinyan’s rather sizable collection of jr. bantamweight belts (WBC/WBA/IBF) from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California in the featured bout on Showtime’s Championship Boxing (9 pm ET/PT).
“He thinks he’s an intimidator. He always tells people what he will do and they get intimidated. But I’m not that type of guy. His words won?t affect me. He can say and talk about what he is going to do to me in the ring, but I’m not going to fold. I’m a bigger guy than him. He won?t intimidate me,” he insisted on an international conference call with reporters last week.
The last time he performed at this venue – which plays home to the NHL Ducks – he came into the ring on a horse as he easily decisioned Juan Roque Ler in January of 2007. Just a fight later, as he faced the then-unknown Cristian Mijares, he was knocked off his high horse as he was conclusively outclassed by the slick southpaw three months later in San Antonio, Texas. Arce admits that it?s the low point of his storied career.
“My career was taking off, then when I lost to Mijares, people thought I wasn’t as good of a boxer as some people thought I was. They thought I was just a singer and a celebrity and an entertainer. But everyone has bad nights. I just had a bad night. The media and fans don’t understand that I can have a bad night,” Arce stated. “Now, I face a guy that knocked Mijares out and I’m going to knock him out. And then everyone will talk about me like they did before I lost to Mijares.”
Since that loss, he has racked up five consecutive victories against a string of carefully picked opponents. And what’s alarming to some observers is that he went life-and-death with the likes of Devid Lookmahanak and Rafael Concepcion. On the very same evening where Darchinyan blew out Mijares in Carson, California, Arce took care of Isidro Garcia in four.
It was time for Top Rank to roll the dice.
&I have never doubted myself,” Arce insisted. “I knew I was good enough to get back in there and fight these guys, but the opportunity never came. On November 1st, when we both fought on the same night, all I was hoping for was that I got the winner. I didn’t care who it was, I just wanted a chance to fight them. You don’t know how excited and hungry I am. I just can’t wait to fight this guy.”
There will be no elaborate entrances planned for Saturday night. None will be needed. The real spectacle will take place in the ring when two hard punching 115-pounders who don’t particularly like other square off and start winging leather at each other.
“There is no extra show needed for this fight. The fight speaks for itself. He’s a great champion and I’m a great champion. I know he is strong enough that he can knock me out with one punch. I know I can knock him out with one punch. There’s nothing else to add to this fight. It’s going to be great.”
While Arce was carefully rehabilitated by his handlers, 2008 was a banner year for Darchinyan, who bounced back from his knockout loss at the hands of Nonito Donaire in 2007 by thrashing Dmitry Kirilov for the IBF belt and then picked up the WBA and WBC straps by shellacking Mijares. He seems to have refined his style in the wake of his KO loss to Donaire and has become a more elusive target. It’s difficult to describe his style, but it reminds you of a cobra that uncoils with plenty of venom.
But Arce sees flaws.
I’ve been watching his videos. He’s just a one-handed fighter. All he has is his left hand. He’s fast and he’s strong, but once you take the left hand away, he’s done. Nonito Donaire proved that. He can also be knocked out with one punch. But not me. I’m not moving up in weight. I’m moving down. He is a lefty, but he is not one of those cuties. He’s a real aggressive guy. I think that he will be fighting in front of me and that will work perfect for me. I think my left hook is my best weapon. I think I will land my left before he does, and that will be the difference.
will knock him out, I don’t see this fight going 12 rounds. I see it as a knockout. If he knocks me down once, I’m going to get back up. He’s going to have to throw a lot of punches to knock me out. He’s in for a long night.”
Or it could be short night, regardless of who wins.
“We’re in there to fight and one of us is going in there to be knocked out.”
CHAVEZ IN TJ
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr’s next outing will come on March 28th in Tijuana, Mexico against the undefeated Luciano Leonel Cuello (23-0/10 KO’s). Also on the card will be Humberto Soto and Fernando Montiel. A bout between Antonio Diaz and Jose Luis Castillo is also scheduled for that show. Joan Guzman is also slated to make an appearance.
But hold on, is it safe to go to Tijuana right now?
m going to be there,” said promoter Bob Arum, “that should ensure people’s safety.”
Oh, OK, in that case, I’ll just hide behind Bob. (Or maybe just stay home, altogether.)
LATE REPLACEMENT
On Wednesday night, promoter Gary Shaw believed that his fighter, Alfredo Angulo would not be performing on February 14th as part of an HBO tripleheader, after a suitable replacement could not be found for Ricardo Mayorga. But by Thursday afternoon, Danny Perez was approved to face Angulo next Saturday in Sunrise, Florida.
So what changed?
King got a piece of Danny Perez,” said Shaw, laughing. The promoter is just relieved that his fighter is back on the card, especially with network dates being filled months in advance. “In the very beginning I thought that there was no chance that he’d ever be scratched and then when I couldn’t get any opponents agreed upon, I started to believe that it wasn’t in the cards for ‘Perro’ to fight on Valentine’s Day.”
Don’t expect Angulo-Mayorga to be rescheduled anytime soon.
long as it had enough provisions in there to pay ‘Perro’ and myself enough money should he back out or not make weight. Other than that, it doesn’t look like ‘Perro’ will be facing Mayorga,” said Shaw.
TV AZTECA
OK, for all of you planning to watch the boxing on TV Azteca tonight, I’m told that on the east coast, the broadcast will air live at 10 pm eastern. And on the west coast, it will be tape delayed at 9 pm. It will be a two hour broadcast beginning with Miguel Garcia, then Omar Chavez and then Jesus Soto-Karass facing Carson Jones in the main event in Maywood, California.
I know, I know. Folks, I just work here.
TICKETS
Tickets for the March 7th ‘Boxing After Dark’ tripleheader (featuring Robert Guerrero, James Kirkland and Victor Ortiz) at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California go on sale Friday. They are priced at $200, $100, $60 and $25. They can be purchased at the HP Pavilion ticket office, Ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster outlets or by calling 800-745-3000.
I’ve been told this is the first time HBO has ever come to San Jose to cover a fight. This should be a very fun atmosphere. I’ve always said, there’s nothing quite like a Saturday night in San Jose. (Well, actually I’ve never said that, but it sounds catchy.)
FRIDAY FLURRIES
Daud ‘Air’ Yordan has been tabbed to face ‘the Ghost’ Guerrero on March 7th….Word is that the WBC lightweight title tilt between Antonio Pitalua and Edwin Valero, which was won on purse bid by Ricardo Maldonado, could end up being promoted by Golden Boy Promotions on April 4th in Texas, on a small pay-per-view. More details to come….Etta James, you go with yo’ bad self. But seriously, is everyone hating on Beyonce nowadays?…. I’m sure they’ll be hundreds of enthralled fans at the Mandalay Bay on April 11th when Winky Wright makes his return against Paul Williams…..Have a great weekend, folks, see you in Anaheim…..
