By Mark Vester

At Plaza de Toros in Cancun, Mexico, Simphiwe Nongqayi (16-0, 6KOs) outworked Jorge Arce (52-6, 40KOs) over twelve rounds to capture the vacant IBF super flyweight title. The scores were 117-112, 116-112 and 117-111 for Nongqayi.

Nongqayi gave Arce some trouble in the first round, catching him with counters and moving away from Arce's power. Arce doubled up the pressure in the second to close the gap. Arce continued to come forward and apply pressure by throwing a lot more punches in the third and fourth. Nongqayi did better in the fifth, landing a few good counters as Arce rushed in.

Arce did better work in the sixth. Nongqayi came back at the end with good counters off the ropes. The seventh saw Nongqayi coming on with several big punches to stun Arce near the end of the round and at this point he began to take over the fight. Arce appeared tired and worn down in the eight. He was being beaten up for most of the round, until there was a break to clean up some water on the mat. When the action restarted, Arce dropped Nongqayi with a hard glancing shot but was unable to follow-up. Nongqayi appeared to drop Arce at then end of the round but the ref waved it off.

Arce and Nongqayi were trading plenty of leather in the ninth. Nongqayi was getting the better of the exchanges. During the tenth, it appeared that Arce stunned Nongqayi once again. He tried to pour on the pressure and came forward with many punches. He couldn't put him down or finish him off. Arce still looked very tired in the eleventh. The crowd tried to raise his spirits with a loud chant of Mexico. The ring apron was cleaned for water for what may have been the sixth time in the fight. Arce tried to rally in the final minute of the round as Nongqayi was outworking him.

Arce knew that he might be down on the cards and came out looking for a knockout in the twelfth and final round. He was too tired to get it. Nongqayi was fresher and landing the better punches. By the final minute, Arce had nothing left in the tank.

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