By Brent Matteo Alderson

On November 29, Chris Arreola 25-0 (22KOs) is facing Travis Walker 28-1-1 (22KOs) on HBO in a hotly anticipated bout between two rare commodities, two highly touted and talented American-born heavyweights with good power that prefer to bang rather than box.  Both fighters have stated that the bout is going to be a barn-burner with the larger Walker commenting that he’s “going to come at Arreola and back him up because I don’t think he can fight going back and he’s not going to know what to do because he hasn’t fought anybody as strong as me!”

The bout is a giant step in the professional careers of both fighters with the winner all but guaranteed a million dollar payday and a spot among the world’s elite heavyweights.  The reported $250,000 dollar payday and the opportunity to fight in front of his hometown fans on HBO is a significant moment in the life of Arreola.    

Like a lot of professional fighters, Arreola is a second generation boxer and his connection to the sport was first established by his father.  “I’ve been in the gym basically my whole life with my dad. I was hitting the heavy bag and the speed bag with him when I was one and two-years old. He’d hold the bag and I would hit it!”

After growing up under the tutelage of his father and training at various gyms in the Los Angeles area, Chris’s parents split up and he moved to Riverside with his mother and continued his involvement with the sport and won the National Golden Gloves at 178 pounds in 2001.  Shortly thereafter Arreola burned out and stopped boxing for a couple of years.  
   
Then one night Arreola went out clubbing with his friend from the gym, Henry Ramirez. The two had met when they were both training as amateurs. After Ramirez stopped fighting, he became involved in the teaching aspect of the sport and started helping his old trainer, Andy Suarez, train fighters. 

That night at the discotheque amidst the booze and the broads Arreola informed Ramirez, “I want to start training again, and I want you to train me.” Henry told Chris he was drunk and told him to talk to him when he was sober.  Days later, in a sober state, Chris again informed Henry of his decision to give boxing another go-around.   

Since that night at the club, a lot has changed and Ramirez is happy with Arreola’s progress and smiles when he talks about their meager beginnings, “At first we tried to get him in the 2003 National Golden Gloves, but something happened, we had missed some deadline or something, so we decided to go pro that summer. His first two pro fights he fought four-round fights for six hundred dollars a piece at two little shows they were doing at the Edge Water [Hotel] out in a tent in Laughlin [Nevada].”

And the scene was a lot different than it is now. There wasn’t any fan fare, any television exposure, and there definitely weren’t any interested promoters, even at the club level.  

“It was weird, he wasn’t doing then what he is doing now, nowhere near.  You didn’t see what you see now.  He looked like shit but I approached Cameron Dunkin and Brad Goodman at Top Rank and asked if there was any interest and they said “No.”  Now Brad tells me Chris is a gold mine.”   

Shortly after his two wins in Laughlin, Arreola started fighting on the Thompson boxing cards at the Double Tree Hotel in Ontario, California. 

“I had been trying to get Chris on a local show for a while, but it was hard. Then one day Alex Camponovo (Manager of Thompson Boxing) called and said that he had an opening, that a fighter had fallen out and it was like on three days’ notice, but Chris had been training so we took the fight and started fighting on Thompson cards until his seventh or eighth fight and that’s when we got hooked up with Al Hayman.  One of his associates, Wes Crockett, had spotted us on one of the cards and liked what he saw and we got together and set up a deal with Al and the rest is history.”  To think, it started at the club.      

Notes:

Bobby Czyz’s brother, Dr. Anthony Czyz felt that Bobby should have had a higher ranking in my list of the best American born white fighters of the last quarter century and had this to say about his brother.

Mr. Alderson:

Kelly Pavlik is way over rated and only beat 2 maybe 3 good fighters. I recently won a nice chunk of change betting on Hopkins as a 4 to 1 underdog when he fought Pavlik. The so called experts didn't give Hopkins a chance. I did and bet on it.  Don't get me wrong, I like Kelly and hope he gets back on the road to success. I think it’s too early to put him at the top of the heap in your list.
 
You are right that some people did accuse my brother of ducking Norris, but as I stated, that was pure B.S as I can still produce records of Bobby's injuries from being hit by a car. As far as Al Cole is concerned, that was more hyping a fight than anything. It's part of selling yourself as a fighter. Bobby sparred with Cole many times. It might have been a good fight but it was never seriously presented to Bobby's camp. Remember again, cash is King and they were more interested in a Hearns - Czyz fight. This was bantered about for around 7 years. Emanuel Stewart told me in an elevator he would never let Tommy fight Bobby because Bobby's chin was too good.
 
Some of the things you might have over looked about Bobby's career are some of his biggest wins over some very tough opponents. After Bobby's first loss and my father's death, Tim Broady was Bobby's first opponent at a new weight. Tim Broady, who was 18 - 1 with 18 knockout stat the time, gloated about the fight.  Bobby was given no chance by any fight critic and knocked Broady cold in 4 rounds. Some more tough fighters would be Willie Edwards, Jim Macdonald, Robert Daniels, former cruiser weight champion, to name a few.
 
As far as where I might place him on your list it is hard to say, trying to be unbiased I would like to think he might be the top 1 or 2
 
Sincerely,
 
Dr. Anthony Czyz

Take a look at the article, https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=16390, and comment where you think Bobby should be ranked.

I was at the Chavez-Vanda card this past weekend and all I can tell you is that the fans came in yelling Chavez and left yelling Chavez. 

Lamon Peterson beat a tough opponent in Lanardo Tyner, but unless you are very good defensively, boxing is a tough game if you don’t have a lot of knock out power at the professional level. 

Is it me or are more and more people jumping on the Manny Pacquiao band-wagon in regards to the Filipino juggernaut beating De La Hoya?  Yes I am interested in watching the fight, but the only questions are will the Pac-man go the distance and when is he going to fight Juan Manuel Marquez again.