And the boxer behind the insult “Uncle Barry” goes down in Miami. And the anti-Castro fighter did it with style. That’s the state of Cuban fighter Cristobal Arreola’s career.
And the showdown between Cuba’s nemesis in the cold war era, Fidel Castro, and the leader of America’s south Florida-based exile community, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, looks as if it’s going to fall down because of a lightning strike.
As for former welterweight champ and Miami’s hometown favorite, On September 20th, featherweight Jose “Uncle Bob” Arce, also a victorious Havana native and Cuba-Kissimmee neighbor, is facing former world title challenger Frank Lozano.
Just three months ago, Arce was in danger of being suspended after he pulled out of the USA: Cuba against Atlantic City brawler Shawn Porter, and was fined about $US15,000 by boxing officials for his protestation of “political factors” in the Mexican fight.
A few weeks ago, Alberto E. Zayas Jr. of the Associated Press, told CNN about Arce’s obligations.
‘We’re talking about someone who, according to a study done by the World Boxing Council, is 11th best pound-for-pound fighter, or second only to Manny Pacquiao among Mexicans in that category. In other words, you have one of the best boxers in the world, in the relatively short history of Mexican boxing. That’s a big responsibility. This is the stuff you dream about, it’s also a responsibility that you have to take care of, and what Arce has done is his job.
Now, according to boxing website website www.24/7duraya, Arce’s move from the vacant Abner Mares (who won the vacant Featherweight title after Mares was forced to pull out for a purpose of privacy) to the big game with Lozano comes at the risk of legal consequences.
Jose Arce said ‘non’ and participated in the fight – but if he wins, he is obliged to turn it in for a 50-50 split with Lozano because he pulled out of the fight. The problem lies if Arce wins the fight, he will not have to fight 50-50 with Lozano next time. Moreover, no sanctioning agency has given Arce permission to avoid the fight so close to an obstacle. “With respect to the match that’s against Lozano, it’s an okay fight, I don’t feel any problems, I’m not going to stop the fight because of that, the more I fight, the better. Those that are asking me now, just give me time to keep doing it and then you can talk to me next month. “As far as having conditions for the fight, or have not have these conditions been met, I don’t know, but we don’t have to deal with them.”
Meanwhile, on Saturday in Cuba, No. 1-ranked featherweight contender Azteca Herberto “El Gallo Negro” Lopez will challenge Jean-Pierre Clottey for his IBF super featherweight championship title.
Also on Saturday, American Mikey Garcia will take on Luis Cruz for the interim WBO featherweight title.