While he makes plans to prepare his newest client for perhaps the biggest fight of his career, Joe Goossen is equally excited for the progress made by the heavyweight currently in his stable.
The veteran cornerman revealed during Saturday’s edition of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on Fox—for which he serves as an expert color commentator—of his accepted role as the new head trainer for heavyweight contender Kubrat Pulev (28-1, 14KOs). The two will join forces for Pulev’s second career title fight, which comes versus unified titlist Anthony Joshua (23-1, 21KOs) on June 20 at Tottenham Spurs Stadium in North London, England.
Meanwhile, hard at work in the lab is former three-time heavyweight Chris Arreola (38-6-1, 33KOs), who is preparing for his next fight. Rumors have swirled of whom the Riverside, California slugger might land as his next foe, although nothing remains concrete as this goes to publish.
“He’s got something big cooking,” Goossen told BoxingScene.com, though refusing to offer names or a potential timeframe for his next fight. “He’s jacked up. For him to be jacked up—that’s a good thing.”
Goossen and Arreola connected last May, working together for a full training camp ahead of his eventual hard-fought loss to then-unbeaten Adam Kownacki last August in Brooklyn, New York. Their 12-round slugfest destroyed Compubox records for a heavyweight fight, including combined punches thrown (2172), landed (667), power punches landed (607) and most punches thrown in a round (220 in round 12).
Arreola set the heavyweight mark for most punches thrown in a fight, launching 1,125 shots at Kownacki. The mark more than doubled his previous best of 580, speaking to the conditioning put in for the fight—an area which has long plagued his otherwise entertaining career.
The bout was his third since returning to the ring in December 2018, ending a near 2 ½ year hiatus following his July 2016 stoppage loss to then-unbeaten heavyweight titlist Deontay Wilder. Another retirement was considered following the Kownacki bout, to which he quickly reconsidered and—even in celebrating his 39th birthday earlier this month—will instead focus on another valiant run.
Considering the number of recent upsets and title changes in the division—including Kownacki and Wilder both suffering stoppage losses within the last three weeks—no heavyweight counted out, least of all a well-prepared contender.
“When he's jacked up, he works hard,” notes Goossen. “When he works hard, I tell you, he's hard to beat. So, we're very excited about his next fight.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox