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.