VAN NUYS, Calif. — At the age of 40, Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola still wants to make his dreams come true of becoming the heavyweight champion of the world.
He’s come up short three times in previous chances against Vitali Klitschko in 2009, Bermane Stiverne in 2014 and Deontay Wilder in 2016.
Arreola was supposed to be the first Mexican to ever win boxing’s most prestigious crown, but that honor eventually went to Andy Ruiz Jr. when Ruiz pulled off the shocking upset over Anthony Joshua in 2019 -- only to lose in a rematch six months later.
Ruiz’s simple lifestyle became overly exuberant in a span of a second, and he lacked the discipline to defend the title because he gained over 15 pounds before the Joshua sequel.
Arreola (38-6-1, 33 KOs) doesn’t fault Ruiz (33-2, 22 KOs) for his previous failures heading into their showdown May 1 at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. on FOX Sports pay per view.
“I don't blame him one f------ bit, man. He went from thousands to millions in dollars. You think it's not going to change your life or world? From nothing to having millions, it will change anybody, and I don't care who you are. Especially he wanted it so bad,” Arreola told BoxingScene.com in an interview. “That being said, now he's going to come ready and he has something to prove. That's why I'll be ready. I'm not a stepping stone for someone.”
Much like Ruiz is ready to rebound, so is Arreola, who is 3-3-1 with a no contest after he tested positive for marijuana for the second time in his career.
Arreola set the CompuBox heavyweight mark for most punches thrown in a fight, launching 1,125 shots at Adam Kownacki in their August 2019 encounter in a spirited unanimous decision loss. The figure more than doubled his previous best of 580 punches. Arreola’s output did not show any sign of age.
“I was considering retirement heading into the Kownacki fight if I lost or looked like sh!t. I don't think I looked like shit. If anything, I thought I won that fight,” said Arreola. “The worst I thought I should get is a draw. I feel so disrespected by the judges. I earned myself another fight with that performance. I worked hard for that fight.”
Arreola trainer Joe Goossen told BoxingScene.com that his fighter has earned the opportunity to face Ruiz even though he’s coming off a loss.
“Kownacki looked unbeatable. He was this thick dynamo and everyone expected us to get knocked out. But Chris gave more than what anybody thought he was going to do, and it put him in position to fight Ruiz,” said Goossen. “He has certainly earned his right to be here and fight. They have very similar styles. No matter what game plan you come up, they are going to revert back to what they do and that’s balls to the wall.”
Areola has been boxing since the age of 7. He had close to 200 amateur bouts under his belt and even a National Golden Gloves at light heavyweight.
He now wants to revive his career with one last run for a heavyweight crown.
“I love what I do. I'm very fortunate to have a father that gave a f--- and made me train when I didn't want to, and damn right it was for my own good. I'm still chasing that championship dream,” said Arreola. “I'm lucky and fortunate to have such longevity in boxing and still doing this at a high level at 40. In all honesty, I don't even know how I'm doing it this long. I just don't quit. I guess I'm too dumb to quit. I'm going to keep going until I die. I have nothing else to do. I love what I do.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com
