By Rafael Soto
Zanfer Promotions and HG Boxing, the promoters for bantamweights Francisco "Panchito" Arce and Hugo "Cuatito" Ruiz, have begun discussions to stage an immediate rematch in August or September.
The two Mexican fighters fought a twelve round war in Los Mochis on Saturday night. There was non-stop action and multiple knockdowns. In the end, Ruiz (28-1, 25 KOs) retained the WBA interim title with a twelve round unanimous decision over Arce (37-7, 22 KOs). Four thousand people were unhappy with the wide scores, 114-109, 114-109 and 112-111. Fernando Beltran, President of Zanfer Promotions, who handle Arce, was also unhappy with the scoring and the referee.
"We are not satisfied in any way with the decision of the judges, much less with the performance of referee Robert Hoyle. I've spoke to Ruiz's promoter, Hector García, and he is very willing to grant a rematch without any problems. It's simply a matter of setting the financial details in the next few days to make everything concrete," said Beltran.
"Panchito gave a great performance. He was very strong, fought a brave fight, and gave everything of himself in the ring. He and his family really wanted that title. Arce gave his best performance and he did enough to be crowned champion. We are very proud of what Panchito did and of course he will win more clearly in the rematch."