Chris Arreola will get his shot against Vitali Klitschko
by Scott Christ on Jul 30, 2009 1:06 PM EDT
in Boxing News Analysis
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According to The Ring, WBC heavyweight titlist Vitali Klitschko will defend on September 26 in Los Angeles against Mexican-American hopeful Chris Arreola.
Klitschko (37-2, 36 KO) recently lost a September 12 fight with David Haye when Haye suddenly agreed to fight Nikolai Valuev in November, which left Vitali with an open, optional date. HBO has moved it to September 26 and played a major role in inserting house favorite upcoming heavyweight Arreola (27-0, 24 KO), whose big-punching, brawling style and youth give him a better than average chance at knocking off one of the kings of the heavyweight crop.
I'm glad Arreola and promoter Dan Goossen are so willing to make this step, because it's a radical leap in competition from Jameel McCline and Travis Walker. They've talked big about putting Arreola into a major fight in Los Angeles, and now they've come through. Klitschko is a serious risk for Arreola, who has shown an indifference to training and being in what most would consider proper shape for a professional boxer, but the conditioning has yet to affect him greatly. One also assumes this will be the most serious camp of his life. After all, should he win, he's the first-ever Mexican world heavyweight titleholder, and he then becomes a prime challenger for Vitali's brother, current champion Wladimir Klitschko.
I find this fight intriguing, but I have that voice in my head telling me to not get too crazy, that Klitschko will just jab and unload some cannon rights until Arreola can take no more. We've seen Arreola down and hurt in the past, and Klitschko has an iron chin. Arreola's only real chance is to catch Vitali cold and bomb him out at some point, but he's got the kind of power where he just might be able to do it.
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Arreola is a seriously.....
live dog in this one. This is his coming out party and his big shot at becoming the first Mexican champ. I doubt he disappoints and in fact, I’m going out on a limb and picking Cristobal by early to mid round KO.
by SmittytheCutman on Jul 30, 2009 1:57 PM EDT reply actions
dont count out chris
this is much better matchup for him than wlad. vitali is a bit slower and gets hit a bit more. chris has to use his boxing skills that he never uses to get in and throw his bombs. he can land them against vitali whos not scared to death to get hit like his brother. it’ll be interesting to see if he can take similar shots now than when he fought lennox years ago.
arreola hasn’t shown the best chin in the world so i’m picking vitali by ko. should be fun while it lasts though.
I disagree
Arreola doesn’t move his head, and Wladimir at least has a sketchy chin. I doubt he has the skill to outbox either one, so a knockout would be the way to go, and there’s very little chance of that against Vitali. I think the rounds themselves may be closer against Vitali, but Arreola’s so easy to hit that I think he’ll have trouble actually winning the rounds.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
well of course he needs a knockout lol. i didn’t say hes going to outbox him. i said he needs to use his boxing skills that he never does to have a chance. part of those boxing skills is head movement and protect his chin that i dont think is any good to have a chance to land his bombs and have chance.
by sonofapsycho on Jul 30, 2009 2:13 PM EDT up reply actions
If Chris decides to play “take-one-to-give-one” with Dr. Ironface, I am almost positive they will be hitting Arreola with the smelly salts by the middle of Round 5. Arreola often looks like he doesn’t know what to do with his feet, and despite the fact that he has the speed and mobility of Giant Sequoia Tree, Vitali is awkward as hell to move on: twitchy, jerky, weird-to-time. He is also pretty darn good at countering hard after absorbing a really solid punch. At the same time, Chris often looks completely defenseless after he lands one of those big right hands… even McCline punished him for that a couple of times.
I’m still looking forward to this one, though.
"This fight'll be the nastiest thing you'll ever see. I been sober for six weeks, and that makes me vicious."
-- Randall 'Tex' Cobb
Now if he only looked much sharper than he looked in that picture…. I hope so.
"Penelosa is not human." -Max Kellerman on Gerry Penelosa during the Juan Manuel Lopes-Gerry Penelosa bout.
yeah i was gonna ask how old that pic was
The Dude Abides
by battle axe of doom on Jul 31, 2009 4:22 AM EDT up reply actions
Looks like it may have been after the Wills fight
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
I honestly don’t think Arreola has a chance because he is no where near a championship level. I can see him getting gassed by the 5th round. I mean he has already been down by lesser fighter and now he has to face a guy with a 85% KO rate? The guy has crushing one punch power… It will be over before 6 rounds.
All he has is a punchers chance… and Wald right now is good enough and mobile enough to avoid getting tagged.
"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."
I like Arreola. It seems to me his flaws get disproportionately more attention than his strengths, though admittedly the conditioning issue is a legit one. He’ll need to be in good shape to stand a chance, at least like he was against Witherspoon, but preferably better.
What’s always struck me about Arreola is that he’s a very good puncher. His hand speed is not bad for a heavy, he can throw in combination, and he’s accurate. Even when his body is out of position it seems he can get his hands on target pretty well.
I don’t think it will be a particularly pretty fight, but there’s a good chance it’s competitive. I could see any result- either by KO, either by decision. If forced to bet, I would go with Vitali, but I’m rooting for Chris and hope he shows up ready to go.
vitali + los angeles = no chance in hell
He is going to be fighting a mexican in the city of angels , he will be drugged , this is boxing , he will lose by knockout
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