By James Slater: One of the toughest, most consistently thrilling warriors in the sport today, Mexico’s four-weight “world” champion Jorge Arce gets what looks like an easy fight for once next month.
Scheduled to face 41-year-old Brazilian Giovanni Andrade in Durango on Feb. 18th, Arce will defend his WBO bantamweight title.
Heaven knows, Arce – who has been to war with the likes of Cristian Mijares, Vic Darchinyan, Simphiwe Nongqayi and Wilfredo Vazquez Junior recently in his thrill-a-minute career – deserves a breather. Andrade, a pro since 1993, has been largely inactive since 2009 (just three fights since Nov. 2009) and he has suffered a number of recent defeats when he has been in the ring.
KO’d nine times in his 13 defeats (with 62 wins), Andrade will, in my opinion, do very well to last more than a few rounds against Arce, 59-6-2(45).
In fact, it’s a mystery as to why the WBO has sanctioned this fight as a title clash.
Arce wants bigger fights, and he also deserves them.
There will be nothing Andrade can do to stop the lollipop-sucking tough guy moving on to the fights he wants with the likes of Nonito Donaire or Wilfredo Vazquez Jr (in a rematch of their May 2011 classic).
Arce’s original foe for February, Lorenzo Parra, fell out of the fight, so maybe we shouldn’t be too hard on the late replacement choice of Andrade. That said, a huge mismatch is going to be witnessed in Mexico. I hope the 41-year-old veteran doesn’t get too badly hurt. Arce could end this one in a round or two, but he may decide to go a few rounds. Either way, “Travieso” scores his 46th KO next month. Andrade, in his last fight of significance, was stopped inside three-rounds by the comparatively light-hitting Guillermo Rigondeaux (back in Sept. 2009 – albeit up at super-bantam).
Look for Arce to go home early, having had his easiest fight in some months.