By James Slater – Always-exciting heavyweight contender and former WBC title challenger Chris Arreola is still on a mission to make history as the first ever Mexican-American to hold the richest prize in sports (that being the world heavyweight title; remember when it really was THE richest prize in sports?)
Next up for “The Nightmare,” will be a fight against a TBA at The Staples Centre on the June 23rd Ortiz-Lopez bill. The last time Arreola fought at the venue, he was forced to remain on his stool after ten tough rounds with Vitali Klitschko.. That was in 2009, and since then, aside from a disappointingly out-of-shape decision loss to Tomasz Adamek (a loss that Arreola says hurts him more than anything else that has happened to him in his entire pro career), the 31-year-old has kept a clean sheet.
Forcing himself to take the training side seriously again, Arreola got himself down to the mid 230’s shortly after the Adamek fight, and he has since won seven in a row, all but two of these wins coming via stoppage. Loving the sport like never before, Arreola, 35-2(30) says it is “an honour to be fighting at The Staples Centre again.” Arreola also told Fightnews.com that he wants a KO on June 23rd (“I hate leaving it in the hands of the judges,” he said – even though he doesn’t know who he’ll be facing next month. Officially at least).
The huge carrot on the end of the stick of victory is an almost certainly guaranteed second world title shot; this one against younger Klitschko brother Wladimir (assuming Tony Thompson doesn’t score the upset of the year and topple “Dr. Steel Hammer” in their July return fight!) – and Arreola swears it will be different this time around. Convinced his sheer pressure will make Wladimir crack, Arreola has fans interested in the probable fight. Certainly, fans seem to give Arreola more of a shot against Wladimir than they did against his rock-chinned sibling.
It will be interesting to see who Arreola is matched with on June 23rd. No pushover will be allowed by the TV network Showtime, but then again, Arreola would be foolish to take on anyone too tough; jeopardising his almost guaranteed shot at Klitschko. This final bout before a second run at the title is, it goes without saying, a must-win fight for the Riverside native. I can see Arreola getting in there with a Maurice Harris, or a Dominick Guinn type foe next month.
Then, assuming he’s taken care of business (and assuming Wladimir does so in July), the hype will begin for Klitschko-Arreola II. Can you name a more exciting U.S challenger for Wladimir? It’s too early for Seth Mitchell, so Arreola is certainly the best man for the job. And something tells me “The Nightmare” will live up to his nickname and give Wladimir his toughest fight in years.