Stiverne vs Arreola II: USC's Galen Center to host WBC title rematch

Bermane Stiverne and Chris Arreola will headline at the University of Southern California's Galen Center in Los Angeles on May 10, with ESPN televising the heavyweight rematch for the vacant WBC title.

The Galen Center had previously been in the works to host an HBO doubleheader early last year headlined by Andre Ward and Kelly Pavlik, with Stiverne-Arreola in the co-feature slot. The Ward-Pavlik fight never happened, and Stiverne-Arreola was moved to April, where the two fought at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California.

Stiverne (23-1-1, 20 KO) beat Arreola (36-3, 31 KO) convincingly over 12 rounds on HBO in the first fight, dropping the tough Mexican-American in the third round en route to winning scores of 117-110, 117-110, and 118-109. That fight was a WBC eliminator to face Vitali Klitschko, who wound up not fighting again, and the title was vacated late last year. The WBC then decided that a Stiverne-Arreola rematch would fill the vacancy, following Arreola's September knockout of Seth Mitchell.