Last seen being stopped by WBC heavyweight ruler Deontay Wilder, Mexican/American fan favourite Chris Arreola is set to return to action on the under-card of the Wilder-Tyson Fury fight at The Staples Centre in Los Angeles on December 1. According to a news bit from Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, “The Nightmare” will face a TBA on the non-televised portion of the card.
Arreola, 36-5-1(31) fought Wilder back in July of 2016 (being retired at the end of the eighth-round, but not before Wilder managed to hurt his hand and tear his biceps in the fight, going to hospital afterwards) and at age 37 this return could well be the last chance for the warrior from California. Having been in with big names like Wilder, Vitali Klitschko and Bermane Stiverne, Arreola is very experienced and he just might have a couple of big wins left in him.
Arreola is said to have been in training for some time (and, judging by the Facebook photos of him, Arreola looks to be in pretty good physical shape) and if he has retained some serious ambition, who knows, he might feature in another significant fight or two yet. It will be interesting to see who Arreola is matched with on December 1 (it would also have been nice to see his fight go out on TV, but now just the live audience in attendance will be able to see Arreola’s return).
Before the loss to Wilder, Arreola was in there with guys like Travis Kauffman and Curtis Harper. Don’t expect Arreola to get a fight with anyone too tough this first fight back, but in time, Arreola could get it on with some bigger names. A return with Eric Molina would be interesting, seeing how these two cannot stand one another. While Arreola against a Bryant Jennings or an Adam Kownacki would be worth a watch.
It’s likely too late for Arreola to win a world heavyweight title – although against Trevor Bryan, in a fight for the version of the WBA heavyweight belt Bryan holds, Arreola would certainly have a great shot at winning – but a number of fight fans will no doubt be pleased to see him back in action all the same. Age 37 (38 in March) is not too old for a heavyweight these days.