By James Slater: Looking to keep busy, heavyweight contender Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola will face Nagy Aguilera of The Dominican Republic on the under-card of the May 14th Andre Ward-Arthur Abraham “Super Six” semi final. Arreola’s fight at The Home Depot Centre in Carson, CA will be an off-TV affair, and in truth the 30-year-old should be able to bag a win without too much trouble.
This is not to suggest 24-year-old Aguilera, 16-5(11) is a bad fighter. The fighter known as “Dominican Dynamite,” has, after all been in with some top names and he has only been stopped once as a pro – by the hard-hitting Sam Peter just over a year ago. The loss to “The Nigerian Nightmare” doesn’t look great on Aguilera’s record, seeing as it came so quickly in the fight (just the 2nd-round), but any fighter can be caught and hurt. In his other high profile fights, Aguilera has acquitted himself much better.
Back in December of 2009, in what was his breakout fight, the young hope destroyed former WBC heavyweight champ Oleg Maskaev inside a single round. This was a big win for Nagy and the victory proved how dangerous he can be. Despite the fact that he lost three out of his next four outings, Arreola should be prepared to fight this version of Aguilera.
Nagy, after a quick win over Roderick Willis that followed his loss to Peter, went on to be outboxed by Maurice Harris and, last time out, Antonio Tarver. Now badly needing a win, the younger man could well be as motivated as ever against the former WBC title challenger. Again, Arreola has to be looked at as a considerable favourite to win on May 14th, but Aguilera the puncher just might turn up looking to do business. If he is, and if he can avoid the same, quick-blow-out loss he suffered when he met Peter, he could give Arreola a rough time.
Arreola, 30-2(26) returned to KO-winning ways in his last fight, when he proved to be way too much for Joey Abell in January. The warrior from Riverside – still one of the most exciting fighters out there today – could well score as quick a win over Aguilera, but a lot may depend on the attitude and physical condition of the Mexican/American.
Arreola, seemingly always under fire from the critics when it comes to his weight, got himself down to below 250-pounds for the Abell fight and, with new assistant trainer Ronnie Shields in his camp, the contender promised a new attitude from here on in. The 1st-round destruction of Abell impressed some and now Arreola will be looking to put on as impressive a display against Aguilera.
Providing he doesn’t walk into anything hard himself (and Aguilera can bang some, let’s not forget), Arreola should get a win inside five-rounds or so – keeping his goal of again challenging for a world title alive in the process. It’s something of a shame, though, that the fans at home won’t get to see the man, who just might be America’s best heavyweight, fight live on T.V.