Cristobal Arreola: Bloated ambitions or genuine prospect?

Cristobal Arreola is rountinely dismissed by a large portion of the boxing public. He has a big heart, carries a large weight on his shoulders - being the great American heavyweight hope - and a bulging belly to go with it. He is a unique heavyweight in that he uses stylish combinations to punish his foes and  has accumulated an impressive KO ratio, earning him some respect in the division.

He made easy work of Jameel Mcline on Saturday night in a fight which has evoked anger throughout much of the boxing public, who saw in Mcline a fighter who was there to pick up a pay cheque and keep the Arreola bandwagon chugging along without any resistance. A couple of token left hooks in the third round were about all the old-timer Mcline could muster before being put on the floor and out of his misery in the fourth as he showed scant desire to get back to his feet. Yet he still managed to demonstrate Arreola's vulnerabilities in a microcosm.

The Mexican/American put some good attacks together, particularly giving Mcline's 'jelly belly' the attention it deserved. But he weighed in at 255lbs and the most concerning thing about that is that he seems comfortable at the weight.. Yes, he is winning fights impressively, but his excess flab and blatent lack of dedication in training will be exposed. It's simple physics, the more fat you are carrying, the more your speed is compromised, the easier a target you become and that is why it can be very beneficial to achieve something close to your physical prime. Arreola wants to be a world champion and fight the best, and he has the skills to hang with the best, without question. His strong amateur background carries through in his punch-repetoire. And his style and willingness to trade is far more inspiring than some of the eastern European World Champions. But his career will nose-dive faster than he can eat burgers if he isn't training for 12 hard rounds. At the moment, I see a good fighter in Arreola, whose conditioning will get found out against any of the current top five heavyweights. David Haye would probably embarass him as well. The fact is, none of the World Heavyweight champions inspire fear anymore, they are all beatable and that is what gives the flabby heavyweights, such as Arreola hope. Vitali Klitschko may still be formidable or he may, as I suspect, be a little sluggish and a sitting duck for someone with David Haye's speed. But the Ukranian commands the most respect in the division and would pulverise a 255lb Arreola. Shed 20lb of Arreola, to a weight he was fighting at not so long ago, and i'm certain his plight will be taken a little more seriously. He is definitely a people's fighter, whose humility and willingness to entertain can go a long way in this heavyweight era.