Credit: FightHype.com
Freddie Roach, who has been training former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski, says that Arlovski will take a pro boxing match after his upcoming Affliction MMA showdown with world-regarded top heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko.
Roach says that Arlovski will sign with Golden Boy Promotions.
There's talk of him fighting Nikolai Valuev, but without the WBA ignoring their own rules about who can fight for their title, it'd have to be a non-title fight. Roach says he'd gladly put Arlovski in with Valuev, and frankly I have to suspect Andrei would beat Nikolai. He's always been a good striker in MMA, and Roach has been impressed with him thus far. Plus Freddie never talks big unless he truly feels he's right. Arlovski's a better athlete, has faster hands, and Valuev, honestly, just is not any good.
Can Andrei ever really be a top-flight heavyweight in boxing? I don't know -- why rush to judge that? Let's see him in a boxing ring first. If he did, it'd be a hell of a story.