by James Slater – On September 15th in Mexico (exact venue to be announced), Jorge Arce and Humberto Soto, two of today’s more exciting fighters from Mexico, will appear on a world title doubleheader. 30-year-old Arce, one win removed from his tough but honourable stoppage loss to Vic Darchinyan, will fight unbeaten Simphiwe Nonqayi of South Africa for the IBF super-flyweight belt “The Raging Bull” chose to vacate. While 29-year-old Soto, the reigning WBC super-featherweight champion, will make defence number-four against another undefeated fighter, in Brazil’s Josenilson Dos Santos..
Arce, 52-5-1(40) has vowed to extract revenge in his fight, because back in February of this year Nonqayi defeated his younger brother, Francisco. “Simphiwe snatched away the dream of my brother to fight for a world title,” Arce said recently. “Now I have to compensate for the pain we feel.”
The unbeaten South African, nicknamed “The Golden Master,” has a pro record of 15-0(6) and he has been a pro since September of 2002. Not a big puncher, Nonqayi has won his last two fights via decision, and the win over Francisco Arce is easily his most high profile victory. But how much has the elder Arce got left in the tank after so many tough and brutal fights? No gimme for “Travieso,” September 15th’s fight could well turn into a frustrating one for him. Nonqayi is tough and full of heart, as are nearly all South African fighters, and he is a clever boxer.
Unless he can hit him, hurt him and slow him down, Arce may well see himself falling behind on points against the largely unknown fighter. However, having said that, Nonqayi will really have to win decisively to get the points win in Arce’s homeland. Yes, he did it before, against Fransisco, but that really WAS a clear win for Nonqayi. Now can he do it again?
As for Soto, 48-7-2(31) he appears to have the easier fight, on paper at least. Having won four in a row since his awful and undeserved DQ loss at the hands of Francisco Lorenzo (including a revenge win over the man from The Dominican Republic), Soto is on a roll and he is also in pursuit of a big-money fight. He will be in no mood to let the unknown Brazilian with the 12-0(8) record stop him.
Santos, still something of a novice pro with just over two years as a pro under his belt, has never once fought outside of Brazil, and he has a mere two wins to his name over fighters who had winning records. A mismatch on paper, Soto should have little to no trouble making defence number five in his second reign as a world champion (the interim WBC featherweight title held from 2005 to 2006). Santos, unless he turns out to be one of boxing’s best kept secrets, looks to be deeply in over his head. Only a huge upset will see “La Zorrita” lose his belt.
So it looks like Arce may have his hands full as he has what is possibly a tasking boxing match ahead of him, while it seems as though Soto will mark time as he waits for a well deserved big payday.