by James Slater: Heavyweight contender Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola won a wide and largely comfortable unanimous decision over fellow Mexican/American Manuel Quezada last night, scoring three official knockdowns in the 12-rounder. Now 29-2(25), the Riverside native came back from his April upset loss at the hands of the much smaller Tomasz Adamek. Arreola admitted how he never really trained like he should have for the Adamek fight, and he promised he’d get himself into great shape for last night’s fight with the now 29-6(18) Quezada.
And while Christobal weighed in at an even heavier weight than he scaled for the April setback, he looked as though he had done his work for the crucial bout with Quezada. More solid-looking than before, if still a little fleshy, the exciting warrior once again showed there is nothing wrong with his stamina; despite his less than chiseled physique. Never looking out of gas, Arreola won most of the rounds last night, scoring knockdowns in the 9th round (twice) and sending Quezada to the mat in the final round also. Still, fans can be a hard bunch to please at times, and some are already slating Arreola for his latest showing – saying he should have gotten himself a stoppage win.
Maybe Arreola did make harder work of last night’s fight than he should have, but Quezada had made up his mind he wasn’t going to go anywhere, and a stubborn fighter is a hard man to take out. Stopped just once as a pro, the older man has proven his chin and resiliency. But Arreola gets stick for not getting the KO? Is this fair?
Who knows if Arreola will ever actually make good of his desire to become heavyweight champion. Last night’s win never really told us anything we don’t know about the contender’s chances against the likes of a David Haye; we simply saw the same old Arreola. Aggressive, strong, determined and willing to rumble, the 29-year-old is probably as good now as he ever will be. As we know, this is not enough to be able to beat the Klitschkos (although Arreola would surely relish the idea of a crack at younger brother Wladimir), but could the tough and durable Californian be in with a real shot at dethroning WBA boss Haye? I think that fight, if it were to happen, would be a great, great fight. But would Haye’s chin and questionable stamina be able to hold up to the work-rate and aggression of Arreola?
Hopefully one day we will find out. For however you rate Arreola’s showing from last night, the fact is he won, he remains a top contender, and there aren’t too many heavyweights out there who are so popular/exciting to watch. In answer to the question posed in the headline of this article: no, the critics will not in any way shape or form go quiet on Arreola because of what he did last night. But Chris is used to being the subject of complaint, and it can only make him fight harder. Get him a big fight with a Haye, or a return fight with Adamek, and Arreola will be motivated like never before. Will this bring out the best in him, and is the best of Arreola something we have yet to see? In an effort to find out, the fans – on ESPN for as long as Arreola fights on the channel – will continue to tune into his fights.
Give Arreola this much, though, he keeps himself active and he doesn’t vanish for a long period of time after a loss. Can any of you really question the guy’s heart?