Arce declares he’s ready for Donaire bout

MANILA, Philippines—Mexican ring warrior Jorge Arce stopped Venezuelan Lorenzo Parra in the fifth round of their super bantamweight nontitle bout Saturday and wasted no time in calling out Nonito Donaire to sign the contract for their much-anticipated showdown.

Arce, the 32-year-old five-division champ, punished Parra with body shots from the start and dropped the Venezuelan once in the third and twice in the fourth before finally stopping him with another knockdown in 1:02 of the fifth in Mexicali, Mexico.

Then the pride of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, who scored his 60th win and improved his card to 60-6-2 with 46 KOs, dared Donaire, the reigning WBO super bantamweight titlist, to fight him anytime, anywhere.

“I’m ready to face Nonito Donaire wherever and whenever … wherever they want to sign the contract,” Arce was quoted by boxingscene.com as saying.

Donaire, who debuted in 122 pounds with a split decision victory over Wilfredo Vazquez in San Antonio, Texas, was reportedly poised to return to the ring in June against an opponent other than Arce.

Top Rank CEO Bob Arum has been quoted as saying that Arce won’t be available at least until September. Many believed though that Arum will pit Donaire with another Top Rank boxer, Guillermo Rigondeaux, first.