Felipe Leon
Feature Writer

Arce: I only want title fights!

March 25, 2008

By Felipe Leon

Photo: Chris Cozzone

“I only want to fight in championship fights. I’m fighting on May 17th, I was supposed to fight Alexander Muñoz but he decided to fight Cristian Mijares so there is another fight that slips away. I want to have a good season because I want to fight Israel Vazquez and it seems the fight is made for November.”

The always entertaining in or out of the ring Jorge “Travieso” Arce (48-4-2, 37KO) made his ’08 plans clear minutes after wrapping up a recent breakfast press conference in Las Vegas announcing the May 17 “Latin Fury IV” card in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

“Everybody else has plans. Mijares has his plans, Montiel has his. It seems that everybody is sneaking around me. My original plan was to fight for the title at 118 lbs. in May, but it doesn’t seem that way now. I am doing this elimination fight because that is all I could get but I don’t like it, I only want to fight in title fights.”

His opponent will be the #3 WBC ranked super flyweight Thai Devid Lookmahanak (18-1, 19KO) who Arce must defend his #1 position against.

“So this is another elimination bout so I ask my promoter Beltran, ‘after this, what? Another elimination bout?’ How many elimination fights do I have to make? I want the title fight now. But he said this fight was better than to be inactive.”

Top Rank, as well as Fernando Beltran’s Zanfer Promotions has been extremely successful with their traveling fight nights throughout the Southwest U.S. as well as the interior of Mexico. The tradition began in late ’07 when Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. stopped both Ray Sanchez in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Jose Celaya this year in Leon, MX. III will be April 26th when JC Chavez Jr. (35-0-1, 28KO) steps in the ring with his toughest challenge to date in Michele Orlando (35-5-2, 18KO) from Queretaro, MX.

“I think we have the same style, I am an aggressive fighter. I think I can give him a tough fight just like Marquez. I don’t give up and I can take a lot and I can punch, but I know that Israel Vazquez can punch also and he takes a lot,” states the always good humored Arce. Arce seemed determined to state his case for the assembled media regarding why he should be up next in line to face the super bantamweight WBC champ even if he would be making a huge jump from 115 lbs to the 122 lbs limit “I am faster. I have fought at 118 lbs already in Albuquerque I fought at bantamweight and I knocked my opponent out. Look at how I looked, how I felt at that weight. I felt strong. With Mijares, I had to drop weight, I felt weak. It takes a lot out of me to make the super flyweight limit.”

Another fan friendly fight that escaped the clutches of Arce was against the hard punching Armenian Vic Darchinyan “If that fight can be made now, ok great, we would fight but if not, I am going up to 118, if he wants to follow me, great but if not, I have to keep moving. After it might mean we need to do some negotiating, maybe fighting at a catch weight.”

“Where are the fights? If that fight with Darchinyan materialized tomorrow, I would sign tomorrow, but where is the fight?” Arce of Los Mochis, MX, stated that nobody is safe from his sights as he also made it clear that he would step in the ring with his hometown friend and current WBO super flyweight champ “Yes, of course, for the right amount. But listen, it has to be good business for me. Right now if we fight, the one that wins is Montiel because he is the champion,” and by winning he means greenbacks “I have to make more than Montiel, he is the champion but he is not as well known. I am the one that people know so I would have to make more. I don’t want to sacrifice my purse to be given the opportunity, they need to risk.”

But for Vazquez, everything changes “I am willing to make less for that fight. They are giving me the opportunity; it’s for the WBC title at a higher weight. That is a great opportunity for me because if I win, I will be a great champion. It will be a great fight.” Arce adds “I want to show the world who I am. I know that the world has an image of me of a warrior but I feel that in a way my career has been at a stand still and I with this fight I want to re-vindicate myself, to go back to the front pages by beating a great fighter like Vazquez.”