By Marc Livitz ringside in Houston. A crowd of just over seven
thousand fans at the Toyota Center in downtown Houston, Texas was more
than loud enough to create a great night at the fights. Nonito Donaire
(31(20)-1) retained his WBO World Super Bantamweight with an impressive
third round knockout over Jorge Arce. Contrary to popular trends in
boxing, each man was in the ring for the fourth time in 2012. Jorge "El
Travieso" Arce’s (61(46)-7-2-1) entrance to the ring, as the case has
been recently was considerably more tame than the wild and creative ring
walks he had made in the past. Gone are the horse and lollipop.
Nevertheless, the former multiple division world champion received a
raucous ovation from the largely pro-Mexico fans in attendance. Donaire
was somewhat booed, but an overall sense of respect was in the air.
Donaire went right to work in the opening round. He utilized a busy
left jab and followed it up at times with strong rights. Arce was active
as well, although he seemed to have a slight disadvantage when he tried
to locate his opponent in the ring. Donaire possessed a slight uper
hand in both reach and height. The first knockdown of the fight came
less than a minute into round two. The two fighters collided near the
center of the ring, after which Donaire landed a short right to the head
his Los Mochis, Mexico opponent. Jorge Arce quickly rose to his feet
and motioned with his gloves that his trip to the canvas was but a
mistake on his part. Upon continuation of the bout, Nonito continued to
tag Arce with short lefts.
Donaire and Arce briefly tangled up near the corner and slipped to
the ring mat in unison shortly after the third commenced. Towards the
end of the period, Jorge swung and missed with a left of his own, after
which "The Filipino Flash" Donaire connected with a hard overhand right
to the temple. Against the ropes and once again to the canvas went Arce.
As before, he beat the count and rose to his feet. What may have proven
to have quickened his undoing at 2:59 of round three was his ever
constant taunting of his foe. Donaire attempted to land combinations of
the 1-2 variety, to which Arce would wave his gloves and beckon his
opponent to "bring it". This is exactly what Nonito Donaire did this
evening. With just seconds left in what would ultimately be the final
period of the evening, Donaire landed a crushing left hook to the head
of Arce.
This time, there would be no chance to get back up. The fan favorite
from Sinaloa was clearly beaten and exhausted. Referee Laurence Cole
waved the bout to a close with just one second to spare. Donaire
successfully defends his WBO title by 3rd round TKO over Jorge Arce.
Final punch states revealed that Arce held a slender edge overall in
total punches thrown (96-93), while Donaire connected on 20 of his 50
power shots compared to 11 for 49 for Jorge.
Undercard Boxing Results
Sukhrab Shidaev KO3 Jose Trevino - Super Welterweight.
Tremaine Williams UD4 Rafael Casias - Super Bantamweight.
Cedric Agnew UD6 Alfredo Contreras - Light Heavyweight.
Saul Rodriguez UD4 Pablo Brates - Super Featherweight.
Jose Felix, Jr. KO3 Meachor Major – Lightweight.
Daniel Sandoval UD6 Larry Smith – Welterweight.
Victor Terrazas SD8 Juan Ruiz – Featherweight.
Alex Saucedo TKO3 Eddie Cordova – Welterweight.
SecondsOut.com to Doghouse Boxing.
