Mexican-American heavyweight hopeful Chris Arreola failed in his bid to unseat WBC Champion Vitali Klitschko but gained a lot of respect from the boxing community for the heart he showed in his losing effort.
From the opening bell to the merciful stoppage at the end of round ten, Klitschko was just too much for Arreola – too fast, too elusive and too accurate – to ever give the challenger a fighting chance.
Going into the fight, the talk about the undefeated Arreola’s chances of pulling the upset revolved around his weight. Known for his poor training habits that have led to showing up overweight, Arreola decided to have some fun with his critics at the weigh-in. He wore a shirt when stepping onto the scales and acted surprised to hear his weight announced as 270-plus pounds. Then, he revealed an extra weighted exercise vest under his shirt, putting one over on his doubters. After removing the weight, Arreola was declared at 251 pounds.
But if the sought after weight played any factor at all, it was that it helped Arreola survive a few more rounds than he might normally not have. All night long, he ate clean punches while getting in very few of his own. But he did put pressure on Vitali that forced the WBC Champion to be at his very best. And, unlike virtually every opponent of either Klitschko brother for the past three years, he never stopped trying.
With 60 knockouts between them in 64 fights, fans and experts alike anticipated one of the better heavyweight battles in recent years – probably since Lamon Brewster and Sergei Liakhovich slugged it out in 2006. Unfortunately for the fans, Vitali made sure there was no such excitement as he handled Arreola with relative ease.
Klitschko got the jab working right away in round one, using it to snap Arreola’s head back and score with straight right hands. The left hook was on display too, with Vitali swiping it across Arreola’s nose at will. Aside from getting in one body shot, Arreola more or less spent round one with his gloves in front of his face, trying to weather everything Klitschko threw at him.
Early in round two, Klitschko tagged Arreola with a pair of jabs and followed through with a big right hand across the nose. That prompted Arreola to pin Vitali against the ropes and punish him to the body with a sustained attack not unlike the one applied by Lennox Lewis against Vitali in 2003. In this case, however, Klitschko shook it off and went back to turning Arreola’s head with well-placed jabs and right hands.
Tired of being hit so clean, Arreola bum rushed Vitali late in the round and walked into another straight right. Klitschko bounced three more big right hands off Arreola’s dome before the end of the round, earning a shake of the head from the challenger. Hammering home the gap in ability was CompuBox, who reported Klitschko landing 77 punches over the first two rounds to only 17 for Arreola.
In round three, Klitschko raised his glove for a sledgehammer jab only to lay into Arreola with a hard right hand instead. By that point, he was regularly fighting with his hands down, inviting Arreola to walk into a counter shot. Arreola did manage to score with two right hands of his own to put Klitschko on the ropes, but that was all he was able to do. Vitali turned Arreola’s head with a better right moments later and added another before the bell.
A one-two from Arreola pushed Klitschko back to start round four and gave the Los Angeles crowd something to cheer about. For the first minute and a half of the round, Arreola had Vitali fighting in reverse as he chased him around the ring. During one exchange, Arreola managed to slam home a short left hook that turned Vitali’s head. It was by far the most pressure anyone had successfully put on Klitschko since Lewis. But once Arreola ran out of gas, Vitali went back to picking him apart with jabs and straight rights through the guard.
Klitschko lit Arreola up in round five, scoring with some heavy shots and reducing him to only landing to the body during clinches. Even while being tagged with left hooks, straight right hands and body punches, Arreola at one point mouthed to Vitali, “Let’s go.” Klitschko clearly didn’t plan to let Arreola get going in the fight. Arreola noted it between rounds, telling his corner that Vitali was running too much.
After two more rounds of nothing but punishment, Arreola put up a better effort in round eight, though he still lost the round. He chopped away at Vitali’s body early and pursued him throughout the round, but Klitschko continued to land clean shots, eventually drawing blood from Arreola’s nose. That turned out to be the beginning of the drawn-out end.
Whereas round eight had been one of Arreola’s better rounds in the fight, round nine proved utterly disastrous for him. Klitschko landed his right hand at will, busting Arreola’s nose up and leaving his face a bloody mess. One right hand in the final minute made Arreola wobble. And, for the first time in the fight, Arreola was starting to retreat when Klitschko came forward. Referee Jon Schorle showed his concern as he walked the bloodied Arreola back to his corner for a closer look.
Round ten was target practice for Vitali, who teed off on the bloody challenger with a variety of punches. Near the end of the round, Klitschko stood Arreola up with a perfect straight right to the chin. Another right hand brought forth a shake of the head from Arreola. At the bell, Schorle again guided Arreola to his corner, called in the ring doctor, briefly conversed with Arreola’s corner and waved the fight off at their unanimous suggestion.
Klitschko saluted the fans on his stoppage victory, but he didn’t receive the same response he got when he was stopped on cuts against Lewis six years ago. Then, the fans supported Vitali, the loser that night, for his brave performance in spite of loss. This time, the roles were reversed as the fans showed affection for Arreola, who suffered the first loss of his career but showed a lot of heart in doing so.
Their cheers didn’t ease the pain for Arreola, who hung his head and proceeded to let loose a stream of passionate tears. He had come to win the title, not a moral victory, but that was what he had to settle for against a superior champion.
Always good for an interview, Arreola carried that passion into his closing statements, admitting that Vitali was far too much for him before adding, with expletives of course, that he would return. For the sake of the heavyweight division, boxing would be so lucky to have him around a while longer.
In a division devoid of any personality, Arreola was like a shot in the arm for boxing’s big men. Why else would HBO bank on him being the man to dethrone one of the Klitschko brothers?
He had only one meaningful win on his resume – a knockout of Jameel McCline in his last outing – but an impressive knockout ratio. More importantly, he had the brash and unbridled persona to would make people tune in to see him. The problem was, HBO and his promoter Dan Goossen, put him in with the wrong Klitschko, and that is an unforgiveable mistake that they cannot undo now.
Vitali, not Wladimir, appears to be the best heavyweight in the world. While both are highly skilled technicians, Wladimir has been knocked out three times, making him the vulnerable brother. Arreola should have been gunning for him, not Vitali, from day one.
Wladimir holds two heavyweight titles and thus is often recognized as the man to beat in the division, despite not being the best in the division. Both brothers can’t be recognized as the champion at the same time, so, until one of them loses, there is no Heavyweight Champion.
Emanuel Steward, who trains Wladimir, suggested that the brothers are competitive enough that they might eventually fight each other and insisted it would be a real battle if they did so, but can brothers really be expected to try to hurt one another? Or should fans expect a glorified sparring session if they ever fight?
If boxing can’t have one Heavyweight Champion, the sport at least wants good heavyweight fights. This appeared to be the best chance at getting a real brawl. Unfortunately, the Klitschko brothers are so superior to the current field of opposition that they are denying boxing either.
