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One of Mexico’s favorite fighters was in full force last night at Foro Promo Casa in Mexicali as Jorge Arce retained the WBO super bantam belt with a victory over South Africa’s Simphiwe Nongqayi in a rematch.
The pair had squared off two years ago for the vacant IBF super flyweight belt with Nongqayi shocking Arce via unanimous decision in Cancun.
Arce set out to wage a smarter fight in this rematch, spending the majority of the first frame on the outside, waiting for opportunities to attack his counter-punching rival, who had never fought as a super bantam previously.
Near the end of the round, a good exchange broke out with Arce rocking Nongqayi with a right hand before a left hook to the temple put down “The Golden Master”.
Nongqayi managed to beat the count but had to use all his experience to ride out the storm and finish the round on his feet.
The African came out jabbing in the second, looking to disrupt Arce’s offense but “El Travesio” was soon firing away on all cylinders, looking to put Nongqayi away.
Things quieted down when Arce went down following a missed punch but heated back up again when Nongqayi was rocked from a body shot on the beltline.
The rest of the round featured sporadic action with Arce landing the bigger shots but Nongqayi being the more accurate fighter.
Arce opened the third with a committed assault and Nongqayi struggled to keep up the pace during the torrid first minute. As the action slowed, Arce loaded up with his efforts, landing some but getting also countered.
Midway through the round Arce was cut in the corner of his right eye after an accidental clash of heads, prompting the Mexican to hit the gas again, going all out with both hands.
Nongqayi showed good defense to nullify most of Arce’s punches and picked his spots well to fire back. After a brief stop in the bout to put Nongqayi’s mouthpiece back in, Arce floored it again and the action was torrid until the end of the frame.
Arce started off the fourth in the same fashion and soon had Nongqayi reeling from a barrage of right hands. The challenger got off the ropes by bulling forward and striking with his head Arce’s already injured eye.
Nongqayi received a warning and was soon going toe to toe again with the champion until another headclash prompted referee Rafael Ramos to take a point away from Nongqayi.
By now Arce was badly bleeding but after a ringside medical examination, the fight was back on.
Arce went after his nemesis with renewed vigor but couldn’t put a dent into the challenger, who soon had Arce back up.
After taking a few seconds off, Arce again launched into a fistic tirade that saw both men land big punches.
Nongqayi was driven into a corner as Arce continued his bombardment and the bout was stopped when the challenger stopped throwing punches back, covered up and bent his head to waist level at 2:01 of the fourth.
Arce’s record now stands at 58-6-2 (45), Nongqayi decends to 16-2-1 (6).
