Chris Arreola breaks ankle, fight with Dominic Breazeale postponed

Former heavyweight title challenger Chris Arreola was looking forward to an April fight with prospect Dominic Breazeale, but the 35-year-old veteran suffered a spiral fracture in his ankle a couple of weeks ago, and has been forced to postpone the fight.

Arreola (36-4-1, 31 KO) says that he expects the fight to be rescheduled for June or July. PBC says he suffered the injury on March 3, and tried to see if it would heal up in time before doctors ruled him out for four to five weeks.

"I wish I had a good story, but I literally just stepped wrong," Arreola said of the injury he sustained March 3 when he stepped out of his car at home. "Between the concrete and the grass it was uneven, and I just rolled it."

... "All I have to do is stay off the foot and keep the boot on. I didn't even have to get a cast," he said. "I'm not bummed. I'm glad it's just a break, that it's not ligaments or tendons. I was more worried about ligaments and joints in the foot."

Arreola has had a tough go of it the last two years. In 2014, he was knocked out in six rounds by Bermane Stiverne in a rematch of a 2013 fight, which Stiverne won by decision. After 10 months off, he returned to beat Curtis Harper in an eight-round war, a fight that was a lot more difficult for Arreola than was expected. He then scrapped to a draw against Fred Kassi four months later, and in December, was dropped by Travis Kauffman before getting a narrow and debatable split decision win, which was later changed to a no-contest when Arreola failed a post-fight drug test, testing positive for marijuana.

But in the middle of all that, Arreola did knock out -- and ultimately retire -- Seth "Mayhem" Mitchell in the first round of their September 2013 fight, and this matchup with Breazeale (17-0, 15 KO) had some similarities to that one. Like Mitchell, Breazeale is a former college football player who made a late transition to boxing. Though Breazeale was a more accomplished amateur, he's looked very vulnerable in his last two fights, and Arreola's hard-charging, all-offense style could give Breazeale serious problems very quickly. It's very much a possible "styles make fights" matchup, where even if Arreola is well past his better days, he could be major trouble for "Trouble."