By Jake Donovan
Can we call it the fight to save the heavyweight division?
Probably not, but Saturday night will represent a return to the time-honored tradition of giving a damn about boxing’s big boys.
There’s very little to not appreciate about this weekend’s heavyweight title fight between Vitali Klitschko and Chris Arreola, which takes place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles (Saturday, HBO, 10PM ET/7PM local time).
Historical angle? You have the possibility of Arreola becoming the first ever fighter of Mexican descent to claim heavyweight hardware. Regardless of your opinion on alphabet belts these days, Arreola defeating the 6-1 favored Klitschko would rate as a very big deal.
There’s also Klitschko becoming the first fighter to headline three shows at the Staples Center, currently tied with Shane Mosley and Erik Morales for such honors (Morales also has an undercard appearance at the venue, but more on that later).
Modern significance? The Klitschko’s currently have a stranglehold on the heavyweight division. It’s either a good or a bad thing, depending on your viewpoint.
Currently, Wladimir is regarded as the lineal heavyweight champion by those who keep track of such things. To everyone else, he’s simply the best heavyweight in the world. Whatever the label, the most common perception is that Wladimir is number one, with big brother Vitali right behind him.
Those who’ve long ago accepted the fact that the two will never meet in the ring can appreciate the fact that the division is manned by a two-headed monster.
For everyone else, the same formula applies whenever one or the other fights these days: if so-and-so can beat one, his next fight will be against the other, to which all questions are answered atop boxing’s most storied division.
This weekend, Arreola plays the role of so-and-so. If he plays it well enough, instant demand will be created for a showdown with Wladimir. If such a fight can’t happen right away (the younger Klitschko is presently on the injured list and two-deep in the way of mandatory obligations), the next great heavyweight match up will at least not only be looked upon rather than ignored, but met with anticipation and enthusiasm rather than disgust.
But let’s pretend that none of the aforementioned bells and whistles mean anything to you. You don’t care about sidebars, rankings, or who goes where after this fight. Let’s say that all you want is to sit down and watch an entertaining heavyweight fight.
Sixty-six represents the number of combined professional fights between the two heavyweights. Two represents the number of times that scorecards determined the winner of their fights.
The only time Klitschko (37-2, 36KO) or any of his opponents required the ringside judges’ input came nine years ago, when he scored a virtual shutout over then-unbeaten Timo Hoffman. The distance win came on the heels of his first professional defeat, when a torn rotator cuff forced the Ukrainian to retire on his stool after nine largely dominant rounds against Chris Byrd.
He is presently on a five-fight knockout streak, though spanning nearly six years. All have been televised on American airwaves, as was his courageous showing in a loss to Lennox Lewis in his first appearance at the Staples Center in June 2003.
Kicking off the knockout streak was a second-round blasting of fleshy Kirk Johnson – the fighter for whom Klitschko served as a late replacement against Lewis six months prior. The night revealed very little, other than America’s willingness to rally around the de facto heavyweight leader.
More telling have been his past four fights, all of which have seen Klitschko systematically pick apart his opponents before stopping them relatively late. Four straight fights have extended eight rounds or more, accentuating Klitschko’s knack for maintaining focus over the long haul while knowing exactly when to move in to close the show.
Like his Ukrainian counterpart, there has only been one occasion in which Arreola (27-0, 24KO) left matters into the hands of the three ringside judges. That moment came four years ago, just two years and 12 fights into his pro career, when he was extended the distance by Andrew Greeley.
Of the other two times in which Arreola was denied a knockout victory, both opponents were well on their way out, only to suffer a disqualification loss.
The more notable of the two came last summer in Memphis, when he enjoyed a breakthrough performance with a drubbing of Chazz Witherspoon in a battle of unbeaten heavyweights.
Prior to the meeting of unbeaten heavyweights, Arreola’s biggest moment came in another matchup of undefeated big boys, violently snatching the “0” from the record of Damian Wills nearly three years ago. The seventh-round stoppage helped open up the pay-per-view telecast headlined by Floyd Mayweather’s welterweight-title winning effort over Carlos Baldomir.
Flying much lower below the radar were the wins that followed, despite staying active scoring knockouts on ESPN2, Shobox, Telefutura and even HBO’s Boxing After Dark.
All told, an 11-fight knockout streak accompanied his journey to the showdown with Witherspoon, whose plan of boxing his way to victory was violently ruined the moment Arreola began to let his hands go.
The end came just nine minutes in; Witherspoon was down and out at the end of the third, only for his corner to enter the ring before the referee finished his count and could rule the round over, thus resulting in the technicality.
Those who watched recognize it for the genuine ass kicking that it was, regardless of the official verdict. That fight is also pointed to, however, as the last time Arreola showed up in decent shape, checking in at a relatively svelte 239 lb.
His past three fights saw the hulking Mexican-American exceed the 250 barrier, gaining more flesh with each performance. Poor conditioning almost cost him his undefeated record last November, turning in a sloppy performance against an upset-minded Travis Walker, suffering the first – and to date, only – knockdown of his career before returning the favor three times over in scoring a third round stoppage.
A common thread after each of his last three fights was his claim that conditioning wouldn’t be an issue in his next fight. By all accounts, he appears to mean it this time around, for the first time in a long time not taking for granted the opportunity presented to him.
It was a fight that almost wasn’t, as the date and opponent was originally slated to go to former cruiserweight king David Haye. The brash Brit previously had a date with younger brother Wladimir before pulling out due to an injury.
No effort was made to reschedule, instead setting his sights on Vitali. A deal was thought to be in place for September 12, only for Haye to pull out, basically without explanation, instead pursuing a separate heavyweight title fight against Nikolai Valuev later this year.
Arreola stated all along that he would jump at the opportunity to fill in, as long as he was given ample time to train. Klitschko and HBO obliged, pushing back the date two weeks, which has reportedly allowed the Mexican-American to creep around, and possibly below 250 lb for the first time in more than a year.
The rare dedication to training underlines Arreola’s awareness of what this opportunity represents. To date, he’s always managed to get by on his sheer strength. But a puncher’s chance isn’t much of a chance at all against a fighter who’s never been dropped and is fully capable of not only going rounds, but has proven to get stronger as the fight goes deeper.
There is plenty on the line for both fighters. For Chris Arreola, it’s a chance to upset the odds and for the first time in his career prove that he belongs with today’s best heavyweights.
For Vitali Klitschko, it’s the chance for a top heavyweight to prove he’s capable of not just winning a meaningful fight, but look spectacular and exciting in doing so.
For boxing fans, it’s a chance to fall in love with the heavyweight division all over again.
STAPLES CENTER NOT EXACTLY A STAPLE FOR MEXICAN HEADLINERS
The Staples Center has proven to be a hotbed for big time boxing since opening its doors to the sport nine years ago.
What hasn’t taken place in the house that Kobe and Shaq built is an abundance of success for main event fighters of Mexican descent.
Of the 11 shows involving Aztec warriors, only four have resulted in victory for the red, white and green. Two of the four came in bouts where both sides were of Mexican descent – Erik Morales’ knockout of Guty Espadas in their October 2003 rematch; and Marco Antonio Barrera’s split decision nod over Rocky Juarez in their first fight, more than three years ago.
Adding to the uphill climb Arreola faces this weekend is the three-fight losing streak Mexicans and Mexican Americans are on when topping the bill in the downtown L.A. arena.
Victor Ortiz was the latest victim, falling apart and ultimately quitting six rounds into his Fight of the Year contender with Marcos Maidana. The debacle came on the heels of Antonio Margarito following up a career-best performance – his 11th round stoppage of Miguel Cotto – with a career-worst night, getting his ass kicked from pillar to post by Shane Mosley.
The current streak began when Fernando Vargas suffered knockdowns early and late in dropping a decision to Ricardo Mayorga in what served as the final fight of his career.
You have to go all the way back to Sergio Mora’s controversial decision over Peter Manfredo in their October ’05 rematch to find the last time any fighter of Mexican heritage enjoyed success in the arena – and that’s taking into consideration the fact that many viewers felt Manfredo deserved the nod.
That would leave the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. as your lone savior. The very last win of his legendary career came in the venue, when he outlasted Ivan Robinson in May 2005.
Sandwiched in between the success of Chavez and Mora was Erik Morales’ upset loss to Zahir Raheem (September 2005). Also included in the unflattering stat is the very first show hosted by the venue – Oscar de la Hoya’s split decision loss to Shane Mosley in their first fight.
One thing in Arreola’s favor is perhaps the fact that he’s not favored to win, as opposed to most people expecting Vargas, Margarito and Ortiz to prevail in their aforementioned bouts over the course of this current run of infamy.
JUST HOW BIG OF AN UPSET WILL AN ARREOLA WIN BE CONSIDERED?
The odds may “only” be 6-1 in Klitschko’s favor, but you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone actually going out on a limb to predict a changing of the guard taking place this weekend.
Even a poll taken among legendary Mexican former world champions revealed little in the way of substantive logic behind predicting history to be made.
A press release distributed by ace publicist John Beyrooty quoted four current Hall of Famers (Ruben Olivares, Carlos Zarate, Pipino Cuevas and Humberto “Chiquita” Gonzalez), two more who will be enshrined in their first year of eligibility (Julio Cesar Chavez Sr and Erik Morales) as well as former champions Gabriel and Rafael Ruelas.
All eight ex-champions spoke of the significance that would come with Arreola shocking the world and strapping the green belt around his waists. None spoke of an actual game plan that can get the job done.
Even Teddy Atlas is picking against Arreola this weekend, a rare occasion where the noted trainer and color commentator succumbs to actually picking a Klitschko in a prize fight.
ON A PERSONAL NOTE
I almost always make it a habit to leave myself out of the conversation when writing, especially when it comes to a lead column. But I’ll make an exception for the sake of offering a prediction – joining the very small minority of those who believe an upset will occur and that history will be made
Logic behind the pick? Hey if six present and future Hall-of-Fame fighters can avoid doing so, why should I have to come up with something.
Aside from my own general bias towards rooting for any fighter with whom I can claim to be drinking buddies, comes a belief that any heavy-handed fighter willing to take the fight to either Klitschko brother early and often stands a better than decent chance of winning.
Granted, 37 have tried and miserably failed against big brother Vitali, who can take a punch while steadily chop you down and break your spirit. But missing in his last several fights have been opponents who trained for 12 rounds of warfare, with only Corrie Sanders enjoying any kind of early success among Klitschko’s last five opponents.
While Vitali has proven with authority that he is no worse than the second best heavyweight on the planet, he’s also 38 years old, ten years Arreola’s senior. Four years of rehab appears to have well preserved the three-time heavyweight titlist, but few fighters – athletes in general – have successfully avoided Father Time so deep into their careers.
That said, it will take the best-conditioned version of Arreola AND a career-best performance in order to turn the trick. Anything close to the version up to and including his fight with Chazz Witherspoon gives the Californian his most realistic chance at making history.
Anything less, and I’m just another jackass who foolishly went out on a limb for the sake of calling an upset.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .
