By Juan Carlos Castillo: On Saturday Night, the Best Heavyweight Champion in the last few years, Vitali Klitschko, will collide in the ring with one of the most promising young talents in the Heavyweight Division in Chris Arreola. Watching the KO Records for both Vitali Klitschko and Christobal Arreola one can wonder if actually this fight can get past 3 Rounds. Remember, this is Heavyweight Division, where a single punch can let his opponent in the canvas, and not like the Flyweight Division where there needs to be a bunch of combinations to get the job done in almost every case possible..
Chris Arreola is a young, fresh and talented fighter, mostly recognized for his style of brawler in each of his fights. He has shown tremendous power, and also good stamina, not because of the rounds he has fought, but because of the high number of punches thrown. Something that will not work in his favor are his very widl punches. To many, Arreola is still a green fighter to step up with the very best Heavyweight Champion of the last 5 years, even over his younger brother and present Champion Wladimir Klitschko. I agree with the point of him being still a somewhat green fighter, but he does have the talent, and most of all, the motivation needed to make this a competitive fight with the crowd being clearly in his side on Saturday Night at the Staples Center.
On the other hand, Vitali Klitschko is a guy that can press, and can keep the distance of his opponent pretty well, but what’s really amazing is his power. Only one, of his 37 opponents has reached the full distance in a fight, which makes me believe that there’s no way this fight will lead up to the last round. Vitali has shown as previously stated very good power, very good chin, and has a significant reach advantage over Arreola.
With Vitali’s chin already been tested by some of the hardest shots of Lennox Lewis back in 2003, there’s little doubt that he can take Arreola’s shots. However, Arreola throws shots in bunches and very wild shots, making things a bit difficult for Vitali to handle. The age factor I don’t see it making any difference, Vitali always shows up in tremendous shape and Arreola seems to be taking this fight pretty seriously. Neither of them are good body attackers, and Kiltschko can dominate a fight with his reach advantage.
I expect a good fight in the early rounds, with some interesting exchanges, but after the 4th round, I see Vitali Klitschko keeping the distance of Arreola with his jab, and winning a late-stoppage/UD victory for him, making me remember some of the Wladimir Klitschko-Sultan Ibraigmov fight nearly two years ago, with this one being more entertaining than the one mentioned early.