By Sean Crose
The Stub Hub Center in California is where legends go to fight. If featherweight Nick Arce has his way, it will also become a place to be noticed on Saturday when he appears on the Lucas Matthyse – Viktor Postol undercard.
“It’s great,” Arce claims. “Now it’s my time to fight there.”
Although an opponent has yet to be named for the 4-0 Arce, the 19 year old is preparing for any contingency. “I’m not sure who we’re facing yet,” he says. “We’re just training for different types of styles.”
Arce may not know who his opponent is, but Golden Boy Promotions is keen to familiarize the world with Arce. Taking him on at the young age of eighteen was clearly a sign of confidence. Still, with knockouts in three out of four of his fights, Golden Boy has thus far proven to have made the right decision.
“It’s a great feeling,” says Arce. “Golden Boy Promotions are doing a lot for me.”
As is the gang at the famed West Side Boxing Club in Los Angeles. The highly regarded realm of the Saucedo family, run by Jose Manuel Saucedo, is home base to Arce as he prepares to further his career. Arce “started in Westside’s junior program,” the club’s website proclaims, and “was signed to Golden Boy promotions in December of 2014 as a professional fighter.”
Brothers Jose and Nacho Saucedo provide guidance and tutelage for their young protégé. “They always, always, keep their eyes on me,” Arce says of the Saucedos. “They always push me to do my best… I’m blessed with them.”
Arce’s going to need to be his best if he’s going to succeed at featherweight. Nicholas Walters, Vasyl Lomachenko, Leo Santa Cruz, Gary Russell, these are just some of the names the man may face on his way up boxing’s ladder. Arce, however, comes across as a person who has his feet firmly planted on the ground.
Asked where he wants to be in five years, his answers are surprising, yet impressive. “My family taken care of,” he says. “Being healthy.” Frankly, such an outlook in today’s sometimes bombastic boxing scene is worthy of note. There’s no delusions of grandeur to be found with Arce.
The fighter also claims he wants to be an inspiration to others, “to show them that’s anything’s possible.” If Arce rises in today’s featherweight division, he’ll have lot to show people indeed.
