Joe Goossen hopes an Andy Ruiz Jr.-Chris Arreola fight is put together for this summer.
Ruiz-Arreola is a possibility, yet not nearly a done deal. If it happens, Goossen, who trains Arreola, thinks it’ll unfold much the way Arreola-Adam Kownacki transpired August 3 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Brooklyn’s Kownacki and Arreola, of Riverside, California, broke every heavyweight record in CompuBox’s 34-year history when they went at it in a fan-friendly slugfest seven months ago. Kownacki won their 12-round bout by unanimous decision, but a 38-year-old Arreola gave the popular Polish contender a more trying time than he expected.
Goossen, who’s also an analyst for FOX’s boxing broadcasts, is confident an aged Arreola can beat Ruiz, a fellow Southern California heavyweight he knows well.
“Andy Ruiz and Chris Arreola would be similar to what Arreola-Kownacki was,” Goossen said. “It would be nose-to-nose, center of the ring, neither guy giving up ground, with lots punches being thrown, very little holding, very little clinching. I think it would be an all-out assault from both guys, and I think it just might break all the records they broke in the Arreola-Kownacki fight, to tell you the truth.”
Kownacki and Arreola combined to land (667) and throw (2,172) the most punches in a heavyweight fight for which CompuBox has counted punches. They broke the CompuBox records for punches landed by David Tua and David Izon (650 in December 1996) and punches attempted by Ike Ibeabuchi and Tua (1,730 in June 1997).
Kownacki connected on 369-of-1,047 overall punches, including 324-of-691 power shots. CompuBox credited Arreola for landing 298-of-1,125 overall punches, including 283-of-995 power shots.
Ruiz, meanwhile, will look to bounce back from his one-sided points loss to Anthony Joshua in their 12-round rematch December 7 in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. The 30-year-old Ruiz (33-2, 22 KOs), of Imperial, California, was 15½ pounds heavier, 283½ pounds, for their second fight than when he dropped Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) four times and stopped him in the seventh round to win the IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO heavyweight championships June 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Arreola (38-6-1, 33 KOs, 1 NC) hasn’t fought since losing to Kownacki (20-0, 15 KOs), who’ll face Finland’s Robert Helenius (29-3, 18 KOs) on Saturday night at Barclays Center (FOX; 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT).
“That would be a great fight,” Goossen said of Ruiz-Arreola. “Fight fans in California would really turn out for that. The turnout for Shawn Porter and Errol Spence was unbelievable. It was one of the most electric crowds I’ve ever seen at Staples Center. So, we’ve got a lot of fight fans out here. I just think it would be the toughest ticket in town.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.