By James Slater: Showtime have a pretty good fight card set for June 23rd. All set to rumble at The Staples Centre in L.A, are welterweights Victor Ortiz-Josesito Lopez, and at light-welter Humberto Soto will face the hard-hitting Lucas Martin Matthysse; while up at heavyweight, WBC #1 contender Chris Arreola will step in with the returning Mike Mollo.
31-year-old Arreola, 35-2(30) against 32-year-old Mollo, 20-3-1(12) might not be the best fight of the evening, and to some the match-up may be something of a disappointment (hey, Arreola has an all but guaranteed shot at Wlad Klitschko; so he wasn’t going to risk that by taking on anyone too tough), but the action should be fun while it lasts. It will depend on how much Mollo has left and how good a shape he’s in.
Not having fought since August of 2010 (a draw with the 18-11-1 Gary Gomez), Mollo fought his best fights in 2007 and 2008. Going in with Andrew Golota and Jameel McCline, Mollo lost both fights via 12-round decision, yet he fought with real courage both times. The Golota fight especially was a real barnburner. Back then, Mollo was quite close to earning a shot at the WBC crown (the fight with McCline was a WBC eliminator), and now he comes again.
It will be some shock if the smaller (6’1” and approx 225 to Arreola’s 6’3” and approx 240) slightly older and above all inactive man wins a week on Saturday. Mollo likes to come forward and Arreola has a naturally aggressive, look-for-the-KO style all his own. With a world title shot to protect, “The Nightmare” will be right there willing to hit Mollo harder, faster and more often that he can hit him. I can envisage a short and sweet little slugfest.
Arreola, who has won his last seven and has been very active (six fights last year, one in the bank so far in 2012), has stopped guys of Mollo’s calibre before, and a quick win cannot be ruled out. Mollo has been halted just once, by DaVarryl Williamson back in 2006, and he does have a decent chin. But Arreola is hungry (with the right hunger) – the Mexican-American is also the more talented fighter and the harder hitter.
Coming off that near two-year layoff, it’s hard to argue for a Mollo win. The Illinois man will come to fight, though, and the fun should be well worth watching.