Donaire vs. Arce Staples Center in Oct ?

WBO/IBF super bantamweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire (29-1, 18 KO’s) battles Mexican warrior Jorge “Travieso” Arce ( 60-6-2, 46 KO’s) in October at the famed Staples Center, home of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told BoxingScene.com/Manila Standard on Monday morning here in the US that he is finalizing details of the eagerly awaited bout which he said “ is about ninety percent sure.”

Arum told us that he wanted to do the fight at the Staples Center which is the venue he prefers but indicated “its not easy to clear a date but that’s the first choice. They are working on clearing a Saturday date for us in October.”

Donaire won the vacant WBO super bantamweight title after Arce relinquished the belt which the Mexican won with a 12th round TKO of Wilfredo Vazquez Jr of Puerto Rico on May 7, 2011.

Arce then successfully defended the title with a 4th round TKO over Simphiwe Nongqayi of South Africa on September 23, 2011 before he gave up the title and dropped down to the bantamweight division where he won the vacant title with a twelve round unanimous decision over Indonesia’s Angy Angkota on November 26, 2011.

Donaire faced Vazquez for the vacant WBO super bantamweight crown and won a twelve round split decision on February 4, 2012 at the Alamadome in San Antonio, Texas.

In his last fight Donaire handily won the IBF title from Jeffrey Mathebula of South Africa at the Home Depot Center in Carson City on July 7. Donaire dropped the awkward and much taller South African in the 4th round with a vicious left hook but was unable to put him away as Mathebula was saved by the bell and backpedaled from then on and refused to engage.

Arce in his last fight faced Puerto Rico’s hard-hitting Jesus Rojas in a war that lasted less than two rounds. Arce dropped Rojas with a big right hand in the opening round after which they traded bombs with the Puerto Rican getting the better of his bitter Mexican rival.

Rojas opened the second round with a low blow and followed with several punches and although Arce was given time to recover he was unable to continue and the fight was declared a “no contest.”

captainanddew wrote:I like Arce, but he shouldn't be anywhere near Donaire. Put Arce in with lower top 10 guys who are still good, but will produce exciting fights he can still win. Putting him in with Donaire to get killed is a waste of time.

Diego408 wrote:Arce is the glen Johnson of the smaller weight classes. Arce fights everyone but he can't win a big fight especially vs very good fighters. Vic and Mijares embarrassed him. He may of beat WV2 but he isn't exactly the best fighter out there, plus the corner stopped it prematurely and WV2 was winning at the time of the stoppage. Arce hasn't one a meaningful fight in a long time.

Diego408 wrote:I never gave Nonito credit for WV2. Hes a solid fighter, but no one very special. I believe Top Rank is holding back Donaire from greatness. Donaire could have crushed all top fighter thru his career from 112-122 But Arum is holding him back by putting him into safe fights with awkward style opponents.

captainanddew wrote:No reason for Donaire to rematch Vic.

Donaire's matchmaking has been bad. And every time he has a huge scintillating win (Vic or Montiel), it is followed up by alot of sitting. HIs promoter and his manager are horrible.

flapanther2001 wrote:Didn't Vic already crush him?

flapanther2001 wrote:Didn't Vic already crush him?

SlickMoney wrote:

flapanther2001 wrote:Didn't Vic already crush him?

Yes 2-3 weight divisions ago. And Arce looked faded in that fight.

Nonito's run since the Darchinyan KO has weak. Other than Montiel its been nothing but no-names, smaller guys, or faded fighters.

Ali wrote:Arce getting cold feet ?

http://espn.go.com/blog/dan-rafael/post/_/id/1575/donaire-arce-could-be-sidetracked

Soonermark890 wrote:

Ali wrote:Arce getting cold feet ?

http://espn.go.com/blog/dan-rafael/post/_/id/1575/donaire-arce-could-be-sidetracked

I hope so. I want a better matchup than this.

UBeeg9cats wrote:

Soonermark890 wrote:

Ali wrote:Arce getting cold feet ?

http://espn.go.com/blog/dan-rafael/post/_/id/1575/donaire-arce-could-be-sidetracked

I hope so. I want a better matchup than this.

If Donaire did fight Nishioka instead and Rigondeaux fought Mares while retaining his free agency, we could be right around the corner from a big, big fight. Of course, I feel like there is a better chance of me facing Mares at this point.