In what turned out to be a strange fight to watch and a one-sided affair, Jorge "Travieso" Arce got back in the win column and took home the WBO junior bantamweight title, beating Angky Angkota by technical decision after seven rounds.

Arce (53-6-1, 40 KO) found himself fighting in close quarters most of the fight, and most of that was Angkota's doing. The Indonesian continually put himself into the same corner in the early rounds, allowing the bigger Arce to lean on him and dig away with left hooks to the body and head. Angkota (23-5, 14 KO) did land some good counter shots in spurts, and won the first round on my card, but his strategy -- whatever it was -- doomed him.

In the seventh, an accidental headbutt opened up a pretty bad cut on Angkota, and after some brief conversation between the referee and ring doctor, the fight was called off. They went to the cards, where Arce won on scores of 60-54, 60-54 and 58-56. Bad Left Hook had it 59-55 at the time of stoppage.

The belt going to Arce doesn't really mean a lot. He didn't show anything special tonight. He's still a double tough guy, but his speed is totally gone, and it was never great to begin with. I still don't see him doing well against any top-level fighters or even guys like Simphiwe Nongqayi who are content to box him, but it's a fairly shallow and weak weight class.

Arce is a unique case. He doesn't seem so beaten up that he "should" retire, but he's clearly past his best, and by a longshot. Guys like Arce don't tend to last too long. He's also not the kind of guy I think will make a living out of defending his title against iffy challengers. Arce took a fight with Vic Darchinyan last year that nobody thought he could win. I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted to rematch him. He's a brave guy.

In the televised co-feature, Eduardo Escobedo outlasted Joksan Hernandez in a pretty good fight. Bad Left Hook scored it 96-93 for Escobedo, with official scores at 96-93, 97-93 and 97-92.

We'll have live, round-by-round coverage of this one, as my FSN affiliate has picked up the show with no Red Wings or Pistons games on tonight.

Arce says this is win-or-retire, but there are a couple of things worth noting:

1. It's probably not, no matter what he says.
2. Angkota follows the Arce career path of the last few years. Beat some mid-tier guys, step up, lose, go back to beating a couple mid-tier guys, land another money fight, lose, back to the mid-tier guys...

I think Simphiwe Nongqayi was supposed to be a mid-tier guy last time out, but Arce got schooled in that one. I think the same thing happened in 2008 with Devid Lookmahanak, against whom Arce won a controversial majority decision in Mexico.

Angkota is short and doesn't have a terribly impressive record. I've seen grainy footage of his blowout loss to AJ Banal from 2006, and he hasn't fought anyone with a pulse since. He does have wins over Sonny Boy Jaro (TD-6, 2005) and Donnie Nietes (SD-10, 2004).

Outside of the United States and Mexico, the fight is available via free live stream at wbcboxing.tv.

JORGE ARCE		ANGKY ANGKOTA
	Main Event

Mexican warrior Jorge Arce is gearing up for a January 30 bout against Angky Angkota in Mexico, part of the new "Top Rank Live" series on FOX Sports en Espanol.

Should Arce lose that fight, he tells ESTO (link via BoxingScene.com) that he will retire from boxing, and that no matter what, 2010 will be his final year in the sport.

"I'm training hard for Angkota, because if I lose it's going to be my retirement. Either way this will be my last year as a boxer," said Arce to ESTO. "Angky likes to fight, so I should give an excellent performance for the people. I will not disrespect him, I expect a tough contest. When I leave this sport I will be commentator for TV Azteca. I've made a decision to hang up his gloves and I spoke with my family. I have two girls and another on the way. We must recognize that what goes up will eventually come down over time."

Arce, 30, has been clearly on the decline for a good while now. It first became unquestionably clear when he was torn apart by Cristian Mijares in 2007. Since then, he's beaten fringe contenders, but when he got another shot at a major fight in February 2009 against Vic Darchinyan, he was punished until his corner threw in the towel in the 11th round.

Bob Arum made a stink about Arce's corner not knowing how to handle a southpaw, so Arce went to work with Nacho Beristain as his new trainer. He knocked out Fernando Lumacad in three, but then was again beaten easily in September, this time by Simphiwe Nongqayi. No respect to Nongqayi, but we're not exactly talking the '07 version of Mijares or that red-hot '09 version of Darchinyan here.

Arce looked flat-out shot in his last fight, but guess what? He's probably going to win another title at 115 pounds, since his fight with Angkota has been ludicrously sanctioned by the WBO for their vacant title. The Indonesian Angkota (23-4, 14 KO) does have wins over Sonny Boy Jaro and Donnie Nietes, but hasn't fought anyone of worth since losing to AJ Banal in 2006. Since then, he's won six straight fights -- two of them over debuting boxers, and the others against guys with incoming records of 4-4, 13-9-5, 2-1 and 10-16.

Fight #1283849 to serve as a great example of why boxing fans that pay any attention truly hate the sanctioning bodies and their incessant BS.