Weekend Wrap-Up April 24th
by Mike Hanson
One of the toughest times in a boxing fan’s journey is when one of his favorite fighters loses. That was my case this weekend. I have been pulling for Chris Arreola since the day I first heard about him. Simply the fact that he is a Mexican-American Heavyweight was enough for me. But then add in that he is a fun-loving, foul mouthed, burrito eating, beer drinking, bear hug of a man just makes him all that more appealing.
You could accept his loss to Vitali Klitschko because he did what so many don’t when faced with a Klitschko and that is go down swinging. But losing to a blown up light heavyweight this weekend hurt. Now granted it was a highly skilled blown up 175 pounder, but still one had to think that the big man would eventually catch up to him.
The fight started out as I expected it to with Tomasz Adamek in full defensive mode from the opening bell. He did a good job of landing a shot and then moving away. Also as I expected every time Chris landed a shot it looked as though it hurt Adamek. In round 4 through 6 Chris took over the fight, there were several times when it looked as though one more shot would end the fight.
It was at this point that things took a weird turn. Arreola who is always out of shape but always throws punches, stopped throwing punches. We did find out later in the fight and after the fight that he hurt his bicep and hand sometime in the 5th round. Adamek easily won rounds 7 through 9. Once again though Arreola went on the attack in the 10th. About half way through the round Chris audibly yelled “Ow” and held his arm to his waist.
He came out throwing again in the 11th and at one point buckled over in pain. I can’t say I wouldn’t have stopped the fight due to an injury if I had been the referee. Despite his obvious pain and his swollen face, Chris tried his best down the stretch in the 12th but Adamek played keep away.
Without my homer hat on I gave Chris the 4th, 5th, 6th, 10th and 11th round. I thought he needed the 12th to get a draw and he lost it.
Chris gets his second loss and this one will hurt him more than the loss to Klitschko. The heavyweight division is very boring right now so personalities like Arreola and David Haye are always welcomed. Chris will get another chance and as much as I don’t want to take away from what makes him Cristobal Arreola, I would love to see him get serious about his training and come into his next fight around 240 pounds.
So I spent the whole wrap up talking about a personal favorite, so be it. I will raise a beer or 10 this coming weekend to a guy I would love to have a beer or 10 with. Great heart Chris, now show some great work ethic in the gym!
Just a quick comment … if I had written this Sunday it would have been about what a great fight Froch/Kessler was … but after the recent crybaby comments coming from Froch, I would have a hard time saying anything nice about him … so I didn’t say anything at all …
Personally, I enjoyed seeing Froch lose. It was a close fight and Froch got the nod when it was his turn to play the hometown boy against Dirrell. This time, he got to enjoy going into someone Else’s backyard. In boxing, you don’t say after the fight, “I could have done more.” You DO MORE during the fight. If not, how can you complain being on the losing end of a decision?
This was a tough loss for Chris Arreola. Of all the fighters in the Heavyweight division today, Arreola had the personality to become a superstar in the USA. But like so many other fighters, he just doesn’t seem able to pull out a win when it counts the most. I’d hate to see Arreola go the way of Sam Peter, but right now, this is an awful familiar scenario. If I were Arreola, I’d look for another trainer. Someone who could really bring fresh motivation into the camp. What does he have to lose? It’s worked for other fighters.
I’d probably suggest the same to Kelly Pavlik. Sometimes, change is the only thing that’ll shock a fighter into taking it up to the next level.
Arreola was seriously damaged promotionally with that performance. There’s really nowhere for him to hide. Many will think that in better condition he would have stopped the much smaller Adamek. On the plus side, heavyweights in particular are only one win away from redemption. Who would that be? Tua?
(A longer shot is a David Haye might consider Arrelo a safe defense after that showing. That wouldn’t be ground breaking.The real question would be- would Haye be right?)
I said prior to the fight that if Arreola came in at 240 it would be an easy win for him … I still think so … I think at 240 his foot movement would have been better. I still am unsure if he quit punching in the 7th because of injury or stamina … he never quit throwing against Vitali so I almost think it was the injury … if the 7th and 8th continued like the 4th – 6th, I believe he would have stopped Adamek. Interesting to hear a ton of media and commentators (Bernstein for one) say they thought Arreola won. My wife had it even because she gave the first round to Chris … If he had won the 12th it would have been a draw on the judges cards.
I think that’s the promotional problem. Yes, it should have been a close fight…on the scorecards. I watched the fight with a couple of casual boxing fans- Goliath does not get credit for getting his face busted up and making it a close but losing effort against David. Not with casual boxing fans. We’ll see when the next time Arreola headlines on HBO.