Heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte is set to fight in the US this summer, and the WBC interim champ has his eyes firmly fixed on an opponent: Chris Arreola. Whyte – who had Arreola winning his fight with Andy Ruiz this past Saturday – spoke with Sky Sports’ Toe 2 Toe podcast, and he said he would love to score an impressive KO win over Arreola; this something Ruiz was far from able to do.
Instead, as we know, Ruiz was heavily dropped in the second round by “The Nightmare” and the former heavyweight champ was rocked again in round three. Now, aiming for a fight with Ruiz himself, Whyte feels a KO win over Arreola would get him a big step closer to that fight.
“I think Chris Arreola might be somebody to look at, because he just acquitted himself well against Adam Knownacki and Andy Ruiz,” Whyte said. “It would be good if I could blow him away in four or five rounds as well, because my name has been matched with Andy Ruiz and those kind of guys. I thought he (Arreola) won the fight with Ruiz to be honest. I thought he won it by a split decision.”
33 year old Whyte, who had called the Ruiz-Arreola fight “garbage” before it took place, now says he rates Arreola highly – “Arreola fights like a real Mexican unlike that fat, fake Mexican,” Whyte said.
So can Whyte, 28-2(19) do a better job on Arreola than Ruiz did? Will the fight even happen? Arreola hurt his shoulder in the Ruiz fight and we must wait and see if (or when) Arreola will be ready to fight again. But Arreola, at age 40, showed he has a whole lot left in the Ruiz fight, with the Mexican-American in top shape at 228 pounds and boxing well, even showing head movement and good defensive skills. And of course, Arreola is tough and he can bang. How would Whyte’s chin hold up if Arreola, 38-7-1(33) cracked it with the kind of punch he decked Ruiz with?
It’s a good fight, a very solid fight, and fans would for sure watch it. But Arreola has more than earned the right to decide what he wants to do next, and he has to be given a fair amount of time. Whyte Vs. Arreola: who wins? A good case can be made for either guy winning but one thing we all know is this – there is no way this fight would be dull. Ruiz-Arreola surprised many by going all 12 rounds. What surprises might a Whyte-Arreola fight spring up if it does happen?