(Photo credit: Naoki Fakuda) By Dan Ambrose: WBC featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez (57-8, 48 KOs) successfully weighed in on Friday for his title defense on Saturday night against challenger Gary Russell Jr (25-1, 14 KOs) at the Palms Casino Resort, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
The fight will be televised on Showtime Championship Boxing. Russell Jr weighed in at 125.8. The winner of the Gonzalez-Russell Jr fight will likely face former three division world champion Abner Mares.
By Everest Castaneda: In an interview with ESPN Deportes, former WBC featherweight champion Abner Mares (29-1-1, 15 KOs) spoke about his next possible opponent, which may include a fight with undefeated WBC super bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (29-0-1, 17 KOs) or a rematch with WBC featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez (57-8, 48 KOs).
To recapitulate, Gonzalez knocked out Mares in the first round of their scheduled 12 round WBC title fight.
Mares also reiterated the problems he experienced in his recent, hard fought 10 round unanimous decision victory against Arturo Santos Reyes (18-5, 5 KOs). First, Mares discussed the issues he felt in the ring on fight night. He declared, “I felt fine in the fight, but somewhat tired, fatigued, I was a little sick.”
LAS VEGAS (March 2, 2015) – A world-class doubleheader, featuring featherweight world champion Jhonny Gonzalez (57-8, 48 KOs) defending his 126-pound title against exciting young star Gary Russell Jr. (25-1, 14 KOs) in the main event on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING, will take place at The Pearl at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, on Saturday, March 28, live on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT).
By Jim Dower: WBC featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez (57-8, 48 KOs) is targeting WBA Super World featherweight champion Nonito Donaire (33-2, 21 KOs) for a fight in the near future if Donaire can get past his match against WBA champ Nicholas Walters (24-0, 20 KOs) on October 18th on the Gennady Golovkin vs. Marco Antonio Rubio fight card on HBO Championship Boxing at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
“I would like to fight Donaire,” Gonzalez said as quoted by Thaboxingvoice.com.
Gonzalez would be a tough fight for Donaire because he has size, speed, power and good boxing skills.
By Dan Ambrose: In a predictable outcome, WBC featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez (57-8, 48 KOs) stopped a badly overmatched 35-year-old Jorge Arce (62-8-2, 49 KOs) in the 11th round last Saturday night at the Centro de Usos Multiples, Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico. Arce reportedly retired after the fight.
You have to wonder how long this retirement will last before he comes out of retirement again, because this isn’t the first time Arce has retired.
The stoppage was anticlimactic though with referee Johnny Callas stopping the fight in the 11th due to Arce not doing much other than circling the ring and taking occasional shots. It was a very strange stoppage because Arce was fine. He just wasn’t competitive. But the referee really could have stopped the fight after the 9th round when Arce was knocked down, because after that knockdown, Arce was playing it safe and not doing much.
(Photo credit: World Boxing Council) By Dan Ambrose: #10 WBC Jorge Arce (64-7-2, 49 KOs) says he’s ready to sacrifice his life in the ring tonight against WBC featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez (56-8, 47 KOs) to try and capture his WBC title at the Cancha de Usos Multiples Praderas de Villa, Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico.
Arce, 35, had retired from boxing following his 3rd round blowout loss to WBO World super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire in November 2012. Arce stayed retired for exactly 11 months before returning to the ring in December of 2013 to try and capture a 5th division world title.
(Photo credit: World Boxing Council) By Dan Ambrose: WBC featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez (56-8, 47 KOs) made weight on Friday for his title defense against 35-year-old Jorge Arce (64-7-2, 49 KOs) for this Saturday night at the Cancha de Usos Multiples Praderas de Villa, Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico. Both Gonzalez and Arcen both weighed 126 pounds.
It’s going to take a miracle for Arce to have a chance of winning this fight, because Gonzalez is a big, big puncher, and he’s already got a healthy size advantage over Arce. This match-up could very well be similar to Arce’s 3rd round blowout loss to Nonito Donaire 2 years ago in 2012.
By Dan Ambrose: This Saturday night on October 4th, WBC featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez (56-8, 47 KOs) will be defending his World Boxing Council title against 35-year-old, former 4 division world champion Jorge Arce (64-7-2, 49 KOs) at the Cancha de Usos Multiples Praderas de Villa, Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico.
This fight has mismatch written all over it because Arce has looked horrible in his recent comeback fights against Jorge Lacierva, Aldimar Silva Santos, and Jose Carmona.
Arce will likely make it one or two rounds before Gonzalez knocks him out on Saturday in this face. It’s such a bad mismatch. I’m really surprised the WBC sanctioned this fight, because Arce is way too small at 5’4” to be fighting at featherweight. He was too small to be fighting at super bantamweight, and now he’s trying to fight at featherweight.
By Dan Ambrose:
WBC featherweight champion Johnny Gonzalez (56-8, 47 KOs) will be defending his title against 35-year-old #10 WBC Jorge Arce (64-7-2, 49 KOs) in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico on October 4th. It’s a fight that will generate a lot of excitement in Mexico, but it’s very likely to be a huge mismatch due to Arce’s advanced age and with him fighting in a weight class that is not well suited to his small frame.
Arce has the frame of a light flyweight, but he’s moved up in weight over the years by packing muscle on his upper body at the expense of his twig-like legs.