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.