By Chris Williams: Negotiations aren’t going well between IBF/WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (29-1, 18 KO’s) and 33-year-old Jorge Arce (60-6-2, 46 KO’s) for a fight in November, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN. Arce supposedly wants too much money and this is getting in the way of the fight being made.

If Arce doesn’t come down from his asking price, then Donaire and his team will try and target 36-year-old former WBC super bantamweight champion Toshiaki Nishioka (39-4-3, 24 KO’s) next instead. This may or may not be a step up from the Arce fight, which a lot of boxing fans saw as another typical mismatch for Donaire with him fighting yet another smaller guy.

Nishioka was considered for a while the best fighter in the super bantamweight division, but after he struggled badly against a way past his best Rafael Marquez last October, he’s not seen as the main guy anymore in the division. Perhaps it’s creeping up on Nishioka. Whatever the case, it’s hard to see Nishioka as much of an improvement over Arce because of how old and poor he looked against Marquez. The guys that may be the two best fighters in the division – Guillermo Rigondeaux and Abner Mares – aren’t being considered by Donaire and his team for some reason. It’s hard to imagine why because I see both of them easily beating an aging fighter like Nishioka without losing a round. And I think Mares and Rigondeaux would knock Arce out within five or six rounds, so that wouldn’t even be an interesting fight.

Cameron Dunkin, the manager for Donaire, told ESPN “I think [Arce] is getting cold feet. [Top Rank president] Todd [duboef] said they’re hemming and hawing and asking for a lot more money now, and things are changing. I just don’t have a good feeling.”

It sounds like they’re trying to get Arce on the cheap and he doesn’t like the terms. I see this Nishioka thing as just a pressure tactic to get Arce to agree to whatever offer they already have on the table. Seriously, a fight between Nishioka and Donaire would be no better received than his recent fight against the little known IBF super bantamweight champion Jeffrey Mathebula. Boxing fans, aside from the hardcore variety, have no clue whatsoever who Nishioka is. To them, he’s just another guy that they’ve never heard of facing Donaire. I’m sure HBO will try to sell Nishioka as being the best fighter in the super bantamweight division, but that’s in the past. If they come with that slant they’re talking about the past, because the division has evolved with Rigondeaux and Mares now holding titles, and Nishioka is looking old. Even a prime Nishioka would likely be easily beaten by both Rigondeaux and Mares. He’s too slow and doesn’t throw enough punches. Rigondeaux would take him out quick with a body punch and Mares would simply outwork him.

Arce is still the guy that Donaire’s wants because he’s a well known fighter and not much of a threat to beating him. He’s the classic Donaire fighter – three inches shorter than him with a much shorter reach.