by David P. Greisman (Photo © Bryan Crowe/FightWireImages)
The best heavyweight in the world was a 6-foot-5, 250-pound unified champion from outside of the United States. The next big thing came from America, an undefeated prospect who had network backing and a string of knockout victories.
Lennox Lewis knocked Michael Grant out in two rounds.
The next big thing became the latest big bust. And the story being written ended abruptly, the page torn from the typewriter, crumpled up and disposed of summarily.
History repeats.
The best heavyweight in the world is a 6-foot-6, 240-pound unified titlist from the Ukraine. The next big thing is out of California, an undefeated prospect who not only has a string of knockout victories, but the backing of HBO, too.
What takes place behind the scenes is often as important as what goes on in the ring.
The best and the brightest used to battle on HBO’s “World Championship Boxing,” and occasionally on pay-per-view. On the network’s “Boxing After Dark,” lesser-known warriors threw down because celebrity was contingent on victory, and prospects were tested before money was invested.
Those were the days.
Budgets are tighter. Dates are scarcer. Boxers demand more money, and in turn HBO is, in effect, as much a promoter as a producer.
It still builds legends one round at a time. But it chooses which pugilists will be the protagonists.
What happens on other networks and in other countries matters as little to HBO as what happens in other organizations and countries means to the UFC.
A network will direct its attention to fighters it has bought, fighters it will sell based on the promise of profit.
HBO picked Grant as the challenger to Lewis’ championship. HBO named Jermain Taylor as the heir apparent to Bernard Hopkins’ throne. And HBO has chosen Chris Arreola as the best choice to face Wladimir Klitschko.
Forget other fighters. They’re going to milk Arreola for what he’s worth.
He’s not a bad selection for the spotlight.
Arreola is as entertaining outside of the squared circle as he is between the ropes. When the gloves are off, he can be counted on to drink beers and drop f-bombs with abandon. And when he steps up those stairs, the punches fly as freely as the curses and cervezas.
Over the past few years Arreola has taken out fellow prospects and faded veterans, and 14 straight opponents have failed to go the distance. He goes in headfirst, throws combinations and dishes out concussions.
Twice before he had appeared on an HBO broadcast, beating previously undefeated Damian Wills over seven rounds in 2006 and adding a blemish to Chazz Witherspoon’s record after three rounds in June. This past weekend he met another up-and-comer, Travis Walker, a heavyweight who through 30 fights had 28 wins, one loss and one draw.
It was matchmaking reminiscent of the heyday of “Boxing After Dark,” with two men who would seek to protect their proverbial line in the sand by any means necessary. Both had power. Both knew what victory would do for their future.
One seemed to be better prepared than the other.
Against Wills, Arreola had tipped the scales at 229 pounds, the lowest of his career. He was 239 pounds in his win over Witherspoon. But in a keep-busy bout in September, Arreola had inflated to a career-high 258.5 pounds. He was no body beautiful for his crucial fight with Walker. At 254 pounds he looked more flabulous than fabulous.
Walker, meanwhile, was at his lowest-ever weight, 231 pounds, which was 19 pounds lighter than what he had weighed in his own September keep-busy bout. He looked ripped and ready.
He was.
Walker pegged Arreola early, sending him back to the ropes. When the fight made its way back to the middle of the ring, Walker beat Arreola to the punch nearly every time, adding in shots to his ample stomach and sides. And in the opening minute of the second stanza, a right hand up the middle put Arreola down to his knees.
“I just got caught,” Arreola said in a post-fight interview. “He’s a strong guy, and I felt it right away. That’s why I was backing up to the ropes. I wanted to see what he had to offer.”
Walker offered more than 100 punches in the first round and had Arreola down in the second. But Arreola got up. A minute later he had Walker hurt, and soon he had him down with a barrage of punches.
Advantage: Arreola.
Arreola rushed forward, trying to close out the fight, wobbling Walker again and then scoring a second knockdown on what was actually a push. Walker made it through the round, but he wouldn’t last long. Thirteen seconds into the third round, a left hook sent Walker tumbling backward into a neutral corner. It was over.
It was entertaining, yet it was a sign of just how prematurely Arreola had been moved up in line toward Klitschko.
Without defeating a single top fighter, Arreola was already near the top of all four major sanctioning bodies’ rankings. Without distinguishing himself from other potential contenders, Arreola joined a very short list of fighters from boxing’s marquee division to appear on a regular HBO broadcast since 2007.
Wladimir Klitschko made several title defenses. But other than those bouts, the only big men not getting in the ring with Arreola were Alexander Povetkin and Eddie Chambers, who were taking part in a title elimination bout, and Oleg Maskaev and Samuel Peter, who were fighting for a heavyweight title.
Despite his thin résumé, Arreola now stands in line for a shot at Klitschko. That opportunity comes largely due to the influence of his manager, Al Haymon, who represents numerous top fighters and who has worked quite often with HBO. Arreola has moved up in the rankings and up on the cards.
His is a style that still, at times, resembles that of a Toughman contestant. He is a fighter who just got put down by an opponent ultimately done in by lack of stamina and even less head movement.
In Michael Grant’s final fight before facing Lennox Lewis, he was floored in the first round before coming back to win via technical knockout.
Should Arreola end up pushed toward Klitschko too soon, he could wind up with another parallel to Grant, a big bust whose vertical climb ended with him rendered horizontal.
The 10 Count
1. A proposed fight for 2009 from the father of this scribe: “The Nightmare” Chris Arreola against “The Nigerian Nightmare” Samuel Peter.
2. Sanctioning body stinkitude: Paul Williams-Verno Phillips was contested Saturday for the World Boxing Organization’s interim 154-pound bauble. Yet “regular” beltholder Sergiy Dzinziruk defended his title just four weeks beforehand, a victory that was his second successful defense of the year.
Interim champs. Champions in recess. Champions emeritus. An alphabet soup of world champs and regional titles. Boxing shouldn’t be Little League baseball, where everyone, win or lose, gets a trophy.
3. Boxers Behaving Badly, part one: A British Olympian was arrested last week after a raid in which police seized what they said was more than £12,000 worth of what they believe was cocaine, according to The Northern Echo.
Bradley Saunders and his girlfriend, both 22, were released later without being charged, and the junior-welterweight amateur has proclaimed his innocence.
“I have never had a criminal record. I’ve never been done for drugs,” Saunders was quoted as saying. “I earn a decent living and have been getting paid since I was 13 years old for boxing. There is no reason for me to be involved with drugs.”
Saunders won his preliminary bout in the Beijing Olympics, outpointing Samuel Kotey Neequaye of Ghana 4-2. He lost in the next round, however, coming up short, 11-7, against Alexis Vastine of France.
4. Boxers Behaving Badly, part two: Mike Tyson’s Thanksgiving festivities included a get-together with Las Vegas police, who ticketed the former heavyweight champion after he rammed his SUV into a closed gate, according to television station KXNT.
Tyson was reportedly heard cursing at the gate attendant just before he drove into the gate and knocked it partially off its post. Amusingly, after he was ticketed, Tyson was allowed inside the neighborhood he was visiting.
5. Something tells me Tyson got the wishbone.
6. Boxers Behaving Badly update, part one: Former 160- and 168-pound titlist Steve Collins saw his assault trial end last week in a mistrial, with the 12-person jury unable to reach a verdict, according to various reports from across the pond.
Collins, 44, had allegedly punched a bouncer in the face in June 2006 after not being allowed inside a Dublin stadium, telling him just beforehand, “If you don’t know who I am, you will in a few minutes,” according to the Irish Times.
Collins captured a middleweight belt in 1994 and then jumped up one division in his next fight, outpointing Chris Eubank to capture a super-middleweight title. He defended it eight times, defeating Eubank again and beating Nigel Benn twice, and then retiring in 1997 following a victory over Craig Cummings.
Collins ended his career with 36 wins, 21 by way of knockout, and three losses.
7. Boxers Behaving Badly update, part two: The trial of Erin McGowan has been set for February, when the undefeated female featherweight will face charges that she assaulted a woman outside of an eatery in a suburban area outside of the Western Australia city of Perth, according to The Sunday Times.
The alleged assault took place in the wee hours of March 6, 2005, when McGowan and the woman got in an argument. McGowan is accused of punching the woman in the face several times, leaving her with cuts and abrasions.
McGowan, 27, is also awaiting trial on assault charges stemming from a separate case.
McGowan entered the professional ranks some two years after the alleged incident occurred. She has won all eight of her fights, seven of which have ended by knockout, including her last appearance, a second-round stoppage in October of debuting dudette Saisamon Sor Saitong.
8. Boxing Trainers Behaving Badly: Corner-man Craig Christian, who according to BoxRec.com has worked with featherweight titlist Chris John and former 130-pound beltholder Gairy St. Clair, will go on trial in March on weapons and drug charges, according to Australian newspaper The Sunday Times.
Christian, 43, was arrested in August at the airport in Perth after security staff, according to the report, allegedly found in his luggage “a semi-automatic pistol and a magazine loaded with seven rounds of ammunition, a shoulder holster, methamphetamine in a toiletries bag and a big quantity of cash.”
Christian has pleaded not guilty to one count of aggravated possession of a firearm and one count of possession of a prohibited drug.
9. Dodgeball, an occasional update: When the league commissioner is on the opposing team, one doesn’t necessarily expect the night to turn out in your favor. But Aim Low had little difficulty disposing of the Purple Cobras, beating them 5-2 in the second-to-last game of the regular season.
The final game before the playoffs will see Aim Low take on a team it faced five times the previous season, the Gyroballers (a team since rechristened but whose new name currently escapes me). Aim Low won the first two meetings, but the Team No Longer Known As The Gyroballers came out on top in the final three to take bragging rights. I will be out of town and will not be present to chronicle the action.
Team record: 5-1. This past week’s post-game beer of choice: Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat.
10. Now that the long holiday weekend has allowed me to catch up on HBO’s product-placement-laden infomercial series, “De La Hoya-Pacquiao 24/7,” I don’t know which to buy first – Saturday’s pay-per-view, or the new issue of “The Ring” magazine…
David P. Greisman is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. His weekly column, “Fighting Words,” appears every Monday on BoxingScene.com. He may be reached for questions and comments at fightingwords1@gmail.com
