Weights from Los Angeles: Vitali at 252, Arreola at 251
by Scott Christ on Sep 24, 2009 7:43 PM EDT
in Boxing News Analysis
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Heavyweight sluggers Vitali Klitschko and Chris Arreola have weighed in for their Saturday night WBC heavyweight title fight on HBO. The 38-year old Klitschko weighed in at 252 pounds. Arreola, 28, came in at 251.
Klitschko will have a 3 1/2-inch height advantage over the 6'4" Arreola, and three inches of reach, as well (80" to 77").
While Arreola's weight is what everyone will discuss, it shouldn't go without saying that 252 for Vitali Klitschko is the heaviest he has ever weighed on the scales. Danny Williams and Kirk Johnson both fought Klitschko at his previous highest weight, which was 250. It shouldn't be an issue, just a sidenote.
Arreola's 251-pound weigh-in is his lowest since he starched Chazz Witherspoon in June 2008. He's fought three times since then. He looked grossly out of shape for a stay-busy win over Israel Garcia (258 1/2), and got guff for his weights against Travis Walker (254, W-TKO-3) and Jameel McCline (255, W-KO-4). His weight is about what anyone should have expected. Getting him back down to 240 or perhaps lower just isn't going to happen, even if he gets ripped tomorrow, and even if it's a stamina issue that winds up causing it.
This doesn't promise to be a pretty fight. There probably won't be much sweetness or even much science out there on Saturday. And I'm hesitant to even believe or tell anyone that this will be an action fight, because whenever we expect a decent fight out of one of the Klitschkos, we either get a dominant wipeout where they jab and perhaps eventually close the show, or we get a methodical, one-sided 12-round yawner. But I offer this as a mild piece of hype for the curious and the casual: It probably ends inside the distance, and Arreola has always been fun to watch before.
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had a chat about this fight with my cousin. he seems to root blindly for every mexican, and i admit i’m an arreola fan but he’s gonna git whupped. still pumped to see it though, arreola brings the action so i expect some early bombs from vitali…hopefully…maybe?
The Dude Abides
by battle axe of doom on Sep 24, 2009 7:47 PM EDT reply actions
I was actually going to go Saturday until I was reminded three days ago that I have a wedding I have to be at. Ugh.
Twitter: @FlyByKnite
Klitschko looks like 252 pounds of iron. Arreola looks like 251 pounds of Jell-O. Not saying that decides it, but man Chris sure does look overmatched.
"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
Good points jrok....
Vitali and Wlad always look like Greek Gods. Them cats stay in shape
by SmittytheCutman on Sep 24, 2009 9:40 PM EDT up reply actions
not sure who’d i’d be more terrified of if i ever ran into them in the street (and didn’t know who they were). vitali probably gets the nod since he looks meaner. wlad looks like a doofus most of the time
The Dude Abides
by battle axe of doom on Sep 24, 2009 10:03 PM EDT up reply actions
honestly?
He doesn’t Look too bad. Yes Vlad’s much more defined and Cris may be sucking in just a little, and he could have stood to be 8-10lbs lighter, but apart from that, he’s good to go.
I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘’Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'’ (Bernard Hopkins)
I agree. Not as bad as I feared. Looks like his new S&C program has put BETTER weight on him, even if he’s not carrying LESS weight.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Sep 25, 2009 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions
I’ll throw in a “me, too” here. He looks a lot less wide around the gut area. He’s never going to be ripped, but then I don’t really give a shit how many big oily muscles a guy has. If I cared about that I’d be Jeff Lacy’s biggest fan. Not everyone is going to be built like the Klitschkos.
Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes
by Scott Christ on Sep 25, 2009 11:59 AM EDT up reply actions
He just looks soft, is all I'm saying
But, yeah, he has looked even softer.
"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
chris sure as hell doesn’t look like an adonis, hes closer to a 1985 adrian adonis than anything but looks are deciving. he doesn’t look as bad as before. i was pretty surprised when i see these photos at how good (for him) he looks.
@mikefareri on twitter.
by sonofapsycho on Sep 25, 2009 9:16 AM EDT up reply actions
Arreola looks thinner than past fights.
Hope he cracks vitali
by SmittytheCutman on Sep 24, 2009 8:13 PM EDT reply actions
For the good of the heavyweight division Arreola has to win and thats who ill be rooting for…
by AllDayBoxing on Sep 24, 2009 8:19 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
If Arreola wins
We’ll have our first recognized HW champion that looks like hes in shape to fight MMA
Gimme 1 round!
ahaha
I mean, I’m not hatin’, it’s just a good joke
Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes
by Scott Christ on Sep 24, 2009 9:58 PM EDT up reply actions
I actually love MMA too
Once you figure out the ground game, and I have a pretty decent grasp on it, its very entertaining. But alot of the guys could really stand to do more roadwork and not try to bulk up as much for fights with useless non-functional, weightlifting muscle.
Gimme 1 round!
by ItBurnzWhenIP on Sep 26, 2009 3:28 AM EDT up reply actions
Well he sure doesn’t look like the part of a boxing heavyweight champ… that is for sure…
I think James Toney on any given day is in better shape than him….and that is saying something.
"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."
hes a smaller, mexican, tim silvia
@mikefareri on twitter.
by sonofapsycho on Sep 25, 2009 9:17 AM EDT up reply actions
LOL
perfect. Sylvia is a like a combination of Arreola’s build and Vitali’s height and fighting style LOL
Gimme 1 round!
by ItBurnzWhenIP on Sep 26, 2009 3:28 AM EDT up reply actions
one thing is for damn sure
and that is that this fight will be 10x better than any wlad fight. it should have some nice exchanges.
i have a weird felling about this one. im thinking upset.
@mikefareri on twitter.
I'd love to see Arreola win
But whether he came in at 270 or 230, he just doesn’t move his damn head enough to win this fight. Vitali KO4 in a relative blowout where Arreola lands a few solid punches but not much more.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
KO4
is exactly what I’m predicting also.
Rd 1 Vitali measures
Rd 2 he starts throwing and lands a few shots
Rd 3 he lands a couple damn good shots
Rd 4 he lands a Bomb drops him and puts him away via ref stoppage when he stands up
Gimme 1 round!
by ItBurnzWhenIP on Sep 26, 2009 3:30 AM EDT up reply actions
Funny story
Evidently, when they first took Arreola’s weight, he came in at 272. Then he took off his shirt and he was wearing a weight belt, and took that off to come in at 251.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
It's usually hard to get excited about a Heavyweight "weigh-in"
But it did sound like this one was fun, and fairly meaningful.
"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
Sakuraba once came in overweight for an MMA fight in Japan
Well Sakuraba is known as a huge Gamer in Japan (I think he’s even sponsored by a video game company) and after he weighed in the first time and looked confused he took off his shirt and pulled an XBOX out of his pants lol
Gimme 1 round!
by ItBurnzWhenIP on Sep 26, 2009 3:32 AM EDT up reply actions
If Arreola doesn’t move his head like MIke Tyson was trained with Custimotto he can forget it. He needs to have Vitali moving around alot to put pressure on that ankle. He can’t think that he is going to take some punches and come in and then deliver his punch.If he assumes that it will be lights out. He needs to circle Vitali in the ring not giving him the ability to sit down on his punches.
Custimotto?
Do you mean Cus D’Amato?
"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
Agreed
Arreola seems tailor made for Vitali, with the whole injury caveat.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
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