By Brent Matteo Alderson

I haven’t been this excited by an American heavyweight since Riddick Bowe knocked out Tyrell Biggs in 1991, and the boxing fraternity hasn’t been this high on a heavyweight from the domestic front since Michael Grant was erroneously anointed the heir apparent.  If you remember correctly there were quite a few members of the media that jumped on the Michael Grant bandwagon back in 1999, but I wasn’t one of the them and I always classified Grant with the other flunkies that got into boxing when they couldn’t make it in one of the mainstream sports. 

Chris Arreola is different.  He didn’t get into boxing looking for a career at the age of twenty.  No, he had over one-hundred amateur fights and displays a calmness and type of comfort in the ring that usually only comes from spending significant time in a boxing gym as a youngster.  And since he fought at 178 pounds as an amateur he doesn’t fight like a typical heavyweight.  He throws combinations to the head and the body and fights at a pace rare among the big boys. 

And with each successive victory he continues to turn cynical boxing observers into believers.  At the Paul Williams-Arreola doubleheader last Thursday, HBO’s Harold Lederman commented “I’m always excited about watching Chris fight, and consider him the best American heavyweight out there and one of the best heavyweights in the world.” 

Later that night after an out of shape Arreola scored an impressive third round knockout over the game yet limited Israel Garcia, his promoter Dan Goosen came over to the press section and asked some of the writers what they thought and one of them commented that “at the moment he’s definitely the best American heavyweight” and Goosen responded, “Best heavyweight in America?  He’s the best in the world, he’s going to steam train through the division!”   

Another boxing insider who requested anonymity commented, “Who’s going to want to fight this guy, he looks like he’s an enforcer for the Mexican Mafia!” 

Boxing insiders aren’t high on Arreola just because of his talent. And that’s because for the first time in years the heavyweight division has a possible savior, who is a talented American that possesses numerous appealing qualities which actually mesh with a number of other factors that would illuminate Arreola’s position as champion. 

Generally Hispanic fans and middle aged Caucasian men make up the sport’s core fan base, but young Mexican American fans are increasingly turning towards MMA and Arreola’s success and crowd pleasing style would recapture the attention of that important demographic.  His offensive-based style and down to earth “I’m going to have a beer after I kick some ass” attitude would win over a lot of the younger MMA fans that think boxing matches are 36-minute waltzes.  The fact that Chris is from Southern California, one of the world’s largest media centers, is only going to increase his popularity. Throw in the fact that he’s bilingual and his ability to generate revenue could hit skyhigh.  

From a historical standpoint Arreola’s success would have far reaching implications.  Boxing has always been a cultural endeavor that has a tendency to mirror society.  And the occurrences in boxing tend to be a microcosm of things that are happening on a much larger scale.  Muhammad Ali was a perfect representation of the social revolutions of the 1960’s while Rocky Marciano epitomized the values of the Silent Generation of the 1950’s, and John L. Sullivan’s career encapsulated the very development of the star crazed media-driven society that came about in the late 19th century. 

Now you have Arreola, an American born fighter of Mexican ancestry whose own experience as a first generation Hispanic American is representative of the experiences of millions of Latinos all over the United States.  His very ascendance to the heavyweight thrown would symbolize the change in American demographics and represent the assimilation and incorporation of the Hispanic community into American society.  It would be huge and the heavyweight champion of the world would again serve as a paradigm of American history, just as James Braddock had in the Great Depression and countless others have throughout the history of the sport.   

Before we start anointing a new King, there are still a number of issues pertaining to Arreola.  First off a number of observers have opined that Chris doesn’t have the size to dominate the Heavyweight division in the 21-century.  Tim Smith of the New York Daily News commented that by today’s standards Chris is a smaller heavyweight and that “if he was ripped like Evander Holyfield, he’d probably be about Holyfield’s size.“ 

Even though Chris recently came in at 258 pounds, he was about 30 pounds overweight and in terms of height isn’t as physically imposing as some of the bigger heavyweights such as the Klitschkos or Valuev, but he’s 6’4 and definitely isn’t one of the those smaller 215 pound heavyweights like Chris Byrd or Jeremy Williams and has to be considered a genuine heavyweight.  Seriously how many Cruiserweights do you know that walk around at 275 pounds when they aren’t in training? 

With his style and penchant for engaging in fistic warfare, the quality of Chris’s chin will also be one of the factors that determine the course of his career. Even though he hasn’t been hit by a deadly world class puncher like Samuel Peter or Vitali Klitschko, he took some hard shots from Damien Wills who’s a pretty good puncher and didn’t seem to get fazed too much.  So it’s safe to say that Chris has a solid set of whiskers, the question is how solid.  If he has chin like Sugar Ray Robinson or Marvin Hagler he’s going to be tough to beat, but lets say he’s got a good/solid yet not so legendary set of whiskers like Lennox Lewis, a long reign as heavyweight champion probably won’t be in the cards.

One of the last things that can affect Chris’s ascension to the heavyweight title is his commitment to becoming heavyweight champion.  I ran into Chris at the Ontario Mills shopping center in the Inland Empire a couple of weeks ago and tried to convey the importance of the heavyweight championship to him.  I told him about how John L. Sullivan established the importance of the title and how the title, which until recently was considered the most prestigious in all of sports, is within his grasps.  Chris responded by expressing his willingness to fight anybody and his desire to see if he can take Wladimir Klitscko’s punch, the man he rates as the best heavyweight in the world. 

“Hey I want to fight all the big names; I want to fight the best.  I was pumped up about fighting Tua then it didn’t happen.  I’m not scared of anyone. I want a big fight.  That motivates me.” 

Still after seeing Chris weigh in at a career high 258 pounds, you have to question his commitment and dedication.  Chris will never look like Evander Holyfield, he’s not one of those ripped guys and has even stated that he has a physique more along the lines of Larry Holmes, but 258 is way too heavy and he’s lucky he was fighting Israel Garcia and not a more dangerous heavyweight that might have taken advantage of his lack of preparation.  The added weight sounded off a couple of alarms regarding his training habits and was reminiscent of when Michael Moorer came in at 231 for Bob Crabtree in 1991.

Chris is a hell of a fighter and has the god given talent to be heavyweight champion. At his side is an excellent trainer in Henry Ramirez, but it’s Rocky Balboa time and Chris needs to isolate himself and concentrate on the task at hand and that’s winning the heavyweight championship of the world.  His camp needs to follow a professional nutrition program so that Chris can come in at a svelte 225 pounds.  Who knows maybe Dan Goosen needs to get one of those human-in-a-bucket ice contraptions that he got for David Tua back in 2001. 

The decrease in weight would probably increase Arreola’s speed and improve his endurance, which is already impressive for a heavyweight.  Arnold Schwarzenegger defines luck as a point in time when preparation meets opportunity.  There’s already whole lot of hope surrounding Arreola’s career, now he just needs some luck. 

Notes:

The DVD, J.C. Chavez, is a very good documentary and probably the best available on the Mexican legend.  The original “Champions Forever” Video is my all time favorite boxing documentary, but I also like “When We Were Kings”.   I was disappointed by the Champions Forever: Latin Legends, which was poorly put together. 

The Raul Marquez-Arthur Abraham fight will not be competitive, Raul had a draw with a shot Bronco McKart.

I’m a Floyd Mayweather fan and I think that Floyd circa 1999 would dominate a 130 pound Pacquiao, but I don’t think there is any amount of money that would entice the Pretty Boy to fight Paul Williams.

Brent Matteo Alderson, a graduate of UCLA, has been part of the staff at BoxingScene.com since 2004. Alderson's published work has appeared in publications such as Ring Magazine, KO, World Boxing, Boxing 2008, and Latin Boxing Magazine. Alderson has also been featured on the ESPN Classic television program “Who’s Number One?”  Please e-mail any comments to BoxingAficionado@aol.com