God Bless Chris Arreola
by mason_beer on Apr 26, 2010 12:00 AM EDT
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PrintOne day someone is going to make a movie about Chris Arreola, that is how fun and interesting he is. Watching his highly entertaining fight with Tomasz Adamek, I came away feeling just like I do when I watch a really amazing movie for the first time. Win or lose, Arreola leaves it all out there in the ring, and afterwards win or lose he doesn't complain. In fact, Arreola might be the most modest fighters out there. If he loses, he tells you that he did peppering in f-words.
Arreola is fat. He's not very diverse. He's even a little plodding. But he has a lot of power and is always one punch away from ending a fight. In fact, the more I reflected on this fight, the Minto fight, and even the Vitali fight; Chris Arreola is becoming the heavyweight Arturo Gatti. A sort of HBO matinee idol where win or lose his fights will always be on HBO and always entertaining. But like Gatti, Arreola in the end is limited and put up against the elite of his division he will not win. He might win an alphabet title, but he'll never be the real heavyweight champion of the world. Not unless he gets serious about getting down to 230 and working on his craft.
But in a division so devoid of interest or emotion, Chris Arreola is the most interesting and fan-friendly fighter in the division. This is no was an aspersion towards the Brothers Kitschko, who I think don't get the respect they deserve in the big picture of great heavyweight champions. But they are boring, and the long list of unworthy challengers who evoke no interest and walk in and get bulldozed. Its like their challengers know they are going to lose and are just happy with getting the pay day. When Arreola lost, he cried and poured it out so we know how much that fight meant and what it meant to lose. How much it hurt and how bad we want it. That kind of emotion is what we love in our fighters, what makes us want to watch them. We saw it in Gatti every time he fought, and we see it with Arreola.
He could lose every fight he fights from now on, but so long as its on TV I'll watch him. What's next for him, who knows? I think an Arreola/Chambers fight could be interesting for both men. And make no mistake, this post is not intended to praise Arreola and then relegate Arreola to a never-more than contender status. That one piece of the title, the trinket David Haye has, and Arreola could always lay claim to that title one day.
But I love Chris Arreola a fighter that fights his heart out and doesn't complain when he loses. Boxing, from straw weight to heavyweight, need more fighters like him.
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Well said
I’ve always admired Arreola’s fighting spirit . The Walker fight showed his heart; dropped but immediately fought back harder, I love that shit. He’s got the ‘mongrel’ in him as we say in Australia; loves a good fight.
A better trainer may even improve his technique to the point where it measures up to his fighter’s heart.
"Anytime you go thirty rounds with a guy, try to kill each other, and have the utmost respect for each other, no one understands that, but guys who have been to war understand it." - Micky Ward on Arturo Gatti.
i find it a bit strange that hes brutally honest about everything, which i love, but theres the exception with his weight issue. hes in deep denial about that and blows it off like its a not a big thing.
"Newspapermen ask dumb questions. They look up at the sun and ask if it is shining."
-Sonny Liston
.
Good post here
"If you sit there and watch a person take about an hour to tie his shoestrings, then you realize that whatever problems you got ain't that significant"
---Vernon Forrest 2006
by The Midnight Rambler on Apr 26, 2010 9:56 AM EDT reply actions
Arreola
might be entertaining, but I wouldn’t bet on a happy ending.
Sadly
I see him in 3 or 4 years as a gatekeeper type, fighting at nearly 300 pounds or so. Whatever motivation he has to not completely let himself go will fade at that point. I sincerely hope I’m wrong, but I think he would have gotten the weight under control by now if he was serious about being an elite heavyweight.
by The Boxer Rebellion on Apr 26, 2010 12:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Less Arturo Gatti and more Tex Cobb, IMO
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
He's a tremendous fatass
He fights hard but – the fat overwhelms his skill.
He should be much more concerned about this loss than the Klit loss. This was a little guy who wanted to box, and CA is a good boxer. CA’s a gamer – he’ll bring what he has on that night, but he won’t prepare. And while we can characterize him as tough like Gatti or Tex Cobb, I never saw those guys look even marginally close to CA’s level of fatassedness. And, Tex Cobb wasn’t a contender – CA is talented, legitimately skilled.
When a guy like Adamek fights a guy like Arreola, I’m always going to root for Adamek. He can barely speak English, he’s eventually gonna get killed in this division, but the guy puts forth HIS best game. He’s ready to fight, in shape. CA, in the end, is a fucking waste of talent. Years ago we could have talked about Tyson, and how smart and interesting he is. Instead we just talked about what a badass he was.
"Yes Gina, I am a Wise Cracker"
But can Arreola speak English? Mofo, mofo and more mofo.
"If you sit there and watch a person take about an hour to tie his shoestrings, then you realize that whatever problems you got ain't that significant"
---Vernon Forrest 2006
by The Midnight Rambler on Apr 29, 2010 7:04 PM EDT up reply actions
:)
AI had more natural talent than Chris, but yes. ….
Just so I can make sure, was Iverson talking about practice there??
Kind of sad
Seems to be real close to having it all, but as many of us have, (bottle, broads, bucks etc…) there is that one deamon that he can’t get off his shoulder (in his case off his belly) (couldn’t resist)
Almost how James Toney has spent most of his career. while he had some high spots, I would call James Toney a giant waste of talent. That may PO some, but I really believe it. What could he have done if he stayed in and around the division he belonged in?
because of much of what you mentioned, I would love to see Chris get over (or under) the weight issue. (I had to do it again)
And I would love to see him get a shot at Haye. I have only seen Haye fight once, along with some youtube stuff, but his chin seems to be out there to hit, and if Chris hits it, it would probably get him a belt.
nice piece
No Ice Cream for Nipples
I commented on another post about this so I’m almost out of Arreola juice.
I like Chris as a person. He’s one of those guys you can picture having a beer with. Problem is he seems to feel that way too. In a sport where the work ethic in training seems to be insane for the great fighters, it doesn’t really matter what his excuse is not to put the hot dog down.
It pisses me off too because he’s blatantly honest for an athlete which I love, has more heart than the lion from the Wizard of Oz, seems like he really wants to entertain unlike most fighters now, and yet he’s lacking the one thing that could make him a cut above the rest in a crappy division that needs stars.
I really wish I could reach this guy through my network and try and talk some sense to him the next time I’m in LA. I really believe he needs a hiatus, maybe 6-9 months of nothing but fitness training, organic diet, and even work on the boxing skills from a great trainer.
He’s still trying to plow through opponents for the most part. Just imagine if in his next fight he showed up with muscles apparent in his abdomen with his biceps cut and was throwing faster combos. What’s the phrase? Wish in one hand, shit in the other, and see which one fills up first.
A promise is comfort to a fool.
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