29.01.07 – By Ricardo Lois, www.BoxingConfidential.com: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – Jorge Arce’s secretive entrance, riding in on a dancing horse, may or may not of been the most outrageous ring walk in recent years, but it was a hell of a lot more entertaining than Julio Roque Ler. Ler could have entered the ring to a special “Walk it Out” remix just for himself…..
“West Side Walk It Out
South Side Walk It Out
East Side Walk It Out
Roque Ler Walk It Out”
…because Ler seemed content to lay on the ropes, let Arce throw combinations to his arms, and then walk it out…and allow Arce reengage with the same result.
I wonder what Ler’s fights in Argentina consisted of for him to get the honor of fighting on HBO. Surprising that the Argentinean got past HBO’s opponent selection committee.
On one level, Ler got lucky…Larry Merchant was not around to verbally terrorize him during a post-fight interview.
Arce Gets It
More than any sport, boxing is an event. Fans do not care, for the most part to see the MOST skilled athletes, they want to see the most exciting fighters.
Arce gets it.
When the fight with Ler was drifting into a boring affair, Arce took his act to another level. He would lead the cat calls from the crowd, by waving his glove in acknowledgement. If Ler was just going to waste on the ropes with a high guard, Arce made the point of treating him like an Argentinean heavy bag, throwing multiple punch combinations.
Crowd growing disinterested in the contest? Arce throws out an Ali-like shuffle, stick out his tongue at Ler, and verbally abuses him for failing to fight.
Before and after the fight, Arce gives the media interviews with snappy quotes, full of charisma. The fans want to see him against Martin Castillo and he turns to Bob Arum during the press conference and asks, “When am I fighting Martin Castillo?”
Let us not forget he is trying to learn English and doing a damn good job of it, in an attempt to appeal to a wider segment of the boxing public.
For God’s sake, the man came into the ring on a dancing horse, in order to entertain the crowd. Maybe Arce had seen tapes of Ler and figured he might need the horse to entertain the Mexican faithful who paid in Anaheim.
If your average boxing star, and I use the word “star” loosely, would put in half the energy that Arce puts into an event, boxing could find itself in a better position within the sports world.
Too bad Arce only weighs 114 pounds and not 214 pounds.
Kelly Pavlik…Impressive Arsenal, Defense Questionable
Kelly Pavlik showed impressive offensive capabilities against Jose Luis Zertuche, hitting the Guanajuato, Mexico native with hooks, uppercuts, jabs, and straights.
What worries me about Pavlik is…NO, it is not that fact he is white, which is enough to grow suspicious of any contender…what worries me, is the fact that a much shorter Zertuche was able to hit Pavlik at will.
Professional boxers do not tend to significantly improve their defensive abilities from one fight to the other, and if Pavlik fights guys with the last names of Taylor or Miranda, his porous defense could help spell defeat.
The Horse…Again…
Boxing Confidential videographer Jose Aedo mentioned to me during Arce’s dancing horse routine that it was not the first time a fighter entered the ring on a horse.
According to Aedo’s memory, which I can vouch for, he did not partake in drugs as a youth, Raul Marquez once fought an opponent who entered the ring on a horse, on the now defunct USA Tuesday Night Fights.
“Did the horse dance,” I asked Aedo.
“No,” he replied.
Well their ya’ go, a boxing first.
riclois@gmail.com