This weekends title fights

Later today the world of boxing has 3 “world” title bouts. The big name bout is of course the Super 6 Semi Final bout between Andre “Son Of God” Ward and “King” Arthur Abraham in a bout that will decide half of the Super 6 final and the WBA “super” champion at Super Middleweight. The bout is an interesting one and although I favour Ward to take the decision plenty of folks do seem to feel that Abraham’s power could trouble the American. The bout will be shown on Showtime and ARD amongst other channels around the world and the winner will face the winner of Carl Froch and Glen Johnson who fighter in a few weeks time.

My Preview for Rings news 24 can be found here
World Boxing Title Preview take on the fight can be read here
Abraham Profile can be read here
Ward Profile can be read here

The most interesting title bout of the night however sees 22 year old Mexican puncher Hugo Ruiz, who enters with a record of 27-1 (25) facing off against veteran Francisco Arce (the younger brother of WBO Super Bantamweight champion Jorge Arce). Arce will be attempting to join his brother as champion whilst Ruiz will be looking for his biggest win as he defends his WBA “interim” Bantamweight title. Ruiz will be trying to prove that he’s the star some have started to claim he is whilst Arce will be trying to upset the apple cart in what is genuinely and intriguing match up.
World Boxing Title Preview take on the fight can be read here
Hugo Ruiz Profile can be read here
Francisco Arce Profile can be read here

The final title fight of the weekend is probably the least interesting to be frankly honest. It sees the once highly rated Cristian Mijares defending his IBF Super Flyweight title against Nicaraguan Carlos Rueda an almost unknown in the boxing world. Mijares had seen a bout with Raul Martinez cancelled a week or so before the bout and so Mijares found a replacement opponent. Mijares was once a pound-for-pound top 10 fighter though has been showing signs of being on the slide for the past few years and although it would be an upset to see Reuda win it’d say more about how far gone Mijares is rather than how good Rueda is.
World Boxing Title Preview take on the fight can be read here
Cristian Mijares Profile
Carlos Rueda Profile

Brotherly love

Last weekend we saw Jorge Arce become the first man from Mexico to win “world titles” in 4 separate weight divisions when he upset the odds and stopped Wilfredo Vazquez Jr in the 12th round of a pulsating bout. This coming could see the Arce family celebrating once again as Jorge's younger brother Francisco Arce attempts to gain the interim WBA Bantamweight title from Hugo Ruiz. Could this month really be the month for the Arce family?

Jorge was a heavy betting outsider, in fact you could back him as highly as 9/1 whilst Vazquez had gotten as low as 1/12. The fight was one of the best fights of 2011 as the offensive minded Arce just refused to give up, he had looked tired in a number of rounds then mounted a surge in the final 2 rounds to grind down the younger and bigger champion.

Like Jorge, Francisco is going in to the bout as the under-dog (although no betting lines seem to be available), he's fighting a man who is 27-1 (25) and younger than himself as well as being bigger than himself. Francisco has never won a world title before and has always been in the shadows of his older brother, now is his time to shine and stand, for a little while, on a similar footing.

Jorge's place in Mexican boxing history is secured, he'll almost certainly be in the Hall of Fame despite not being the most talented fighter in recent years. Francisco will want to try and win and help forge his own legacy, the big question is can the Arce's join the Klitschko's (Vitali and Wladimir) and the Garcia twins (Raul and Ramon) in holding world titles at the same time as each other? Also can anyone remember a time when so many brothers held titles? It's not a new thing of course, we've seen the Galaxy twins, the Marquez brothers and numerous others do it, but 3 at once? That can't have been a common thing.