Arreola v. Walker, Williams v. Phillips

[Ron Lipton]

Someone I know inside the Arreola camp shot me a response to Ron and Randy's posts concerning Chris, and so I thought I'd post it here as he offers a different side of the story:


It's hard to understand, or try to explain--but in spite of his flabby appearance, Arreola was IN FIGHTING CONDITION last night. Ten days ago, I stood just outside the ropes in the Big Bear training camp when he went nine tough rounds--three each, with three journeyman heavyweights; beat the hell out of all three, leaving them exhausted, and had plenty left at the end. I do wish he would diet himself down to a more respectable and better-looking 235--but that's just the way he is: eats what he wants, and he loves those enchiladas.

Incidentally: Those three "experts" who wrote unfavorable reviews about Arreola's performance? I have written down their names: GORDON, LIPTON, and HIGHTOWER. And I will go on record with this prediction: A year from now, Chris will be champion--and those three guys will be following him around, looking for a chance to kiss his ass, to land an "exclusive" interview. (You weren't around when Rocky Marciano was coming up--but that's exactly the kind of reviews he got: "Clumsy." "Limited." "Club fighter." "Will be exposed as an unskilled amateur, when he goes up against class," etc., etc.) And, of course, Marciano somehow managed to negate the criticism when he ran off 49 wins in a row--getting very few "style" points along the way.

Want to know why he stood with his back to the ropes and got nailed by Travis Walker last night? He wanted to test the big man's power; see what he had to offer. And he wanted it to be an exciting fight--which, of course, it was. You'll never see him in a mauling stinker, like John Ruiz / or in a faint-hearted surrender, like Samuel Peter. He wants the boxing public to view him as a warrior in the mold of Julio Cesar Chavez, Diego Corrales, or Arturo Gatti. That may be hard for Messrs. Gordon, Lipton, and Hightower to comprehend at this time; but they'll come around, right after he flattens his first Klitschko.

Reply: That kind of reaction is as classy as the mid ring interview.
A former NYSAC Chairman, a former GG champ and sparring partner to Ali, Carter, Tiger and referee and the other guy are going to follow him around to kiss is ass?

First of all not for nothing I met Marciano. I have seen all the great fighters on the way up and I wish this guy luck. Many people did not think Cassius Clay would make it, I was not one of them though.

Passing on and taking offense at anything being written about not looking in shape is crazy, especially if you are very flabby. I know the guy is tough, and I respect all fighters as I am sure the others do.

Receiving a crass and classless comment like that is bush league and totally unnecessary.

Randy and I both are boxing writers too, so lets take this a notch or two higher, shall we and out of the sewer, without all the vile bullshit which truly is totally unnecessary. They wrote our names down for saying he looked flabby or exhibited limited skills but great courage.

Whoever wrote that down must have writers cramp because the twenty guys in my gym who saw the fight also thought he looked way out of shape despite his aerobic prowess which we respect as well as his punch and courage.

If they want their guy to rise to the top, be champ, and more importantly act like one when interviewed, chill out bro, and come kiss all our asses and if you are nice we will teach you how to speak in public when families and kids are watching the future heavyweight champ give an interview instead of turning to the "Locked up" channel to hear how some jailhouse psycho talks to people.

Being a champion is also acting like one, not writing down boxing writers names for vengeance because they wrote what they saw. It wasn't all bad, it had praise for his courage and punch. It had criticism for the crass vulgarity on HBO and lack of control it represented as stated by the HBO commentator.

It does not offend me in the least throwing the words shit and motherfucker around in mid ring, just thought it a poor technique for an interview, nothing more, nothing less.

If Nips is good at that weight and punches like Tony Galento thats cool.
Still looks very, very flabby and roadwork alone will not lose the body fat.
I could help tremendously with that, but no one has to kiss my ass, just ask politely, I have been getting guys in shape for 45 years and I could double his punching power too.

But what the hell, he seems like he has a good guy in camp right now, he writes down names on a hit list, if you have a guy like that, who needs a good trainer.

[HC05]

Want to know why he stood with his back to the ropes and got nailed by Travis Walker last night? He wanted to test the big man's power; see what he had to offer. And he wanted it to be an exciting fight--which, of course, it was. You'll never see him in a mauling stinker, like John Ruiz / or in a faint-hearted surrender, like Samuel Peter. He wants the boxing public to view him as a warrior in the mold of Julio Cesar Chavez, Diego Corrales, or Arturo Gatti. That may be hard for Messrs. Gordon, Lipton, and Hightower to comprehend at this time; but they'll come around, right after he flattens his first Klitschko.

..and then he will fight a big russian named Ivan Drago. He will weigh 380 lbs for this fight but still be in supreme fighting trim. He will let Drago beat on him for most of the fight, just to savour the big russians power. Then, with one round left he will knock the evil Drago out and eventually marry his wife (only to divorce her two years later). At least that is my prediction.

Or he could of course get his fat ass handed to him by either one of the Klits. Maybe that should be my prediction.

[Ron Lipton]

Hi Karl,
hope all is well.

I posted this before but I did not see it up there so I will do it again.
Did anyone take the posts by me, Randy Gordon and the others who posted the way they felt here, and deliberately call his camp's attention to it to fire them up, or did this guy who posted through you, just surf the web and come upon the posts himself?

The rest of the boxing forums basically all said the same thing, so why just the cyberboxingzone?

[TDKO]

Ironically the poster mentions Marciano's name, one of the best conditioned
heavyweights ever.

[HC05]

Ironically the poster mentions Marciano's name, one of the best conditioned
heavyweights ever.

Precisely, and Marcianos conditioning is what made him a champion. He would have lost to Walcott, Charles and others if he had not given himself the best possible foundation. He knew he had to walk through fire to beat many of the guys he faced end he came prepared to do it.

It puzzles me why so many fighters are not in shape these days. It's the one thing that everybody can acheieve. You may not have the talent or the speed but at least you can get yourself in shape.

A guy like Arreola could improve so much if he got in real serious shape, it would compensate for other shortcomings and make things a lot easier for him in the ring. It is not just a matter of conditioning and being able to spar 9 rounds in training. Being fat inhibits your movement, reduces power, takes away speed and snap. Arreola is a hard puncher but he would punch much harder and faster if he got in the kind of shape a world class athlete should be in. There are trainers out there that could help him but I fear he will do what most fatbodys do, stay fat and never realize his potential.

[Ron Lipton]

Precisely, and Marcianos conditioning is what made him a champion. He would have lost to Walcott, Charles and others if he had not given himself the best possible foundation. He knew he had to walk through fire to beat many of the guys he faced end he came prepared to do it.

It puzzles me why so many fighters are not in shape these days. It's the one thing that everybody can acheieve. You may not have the talent or the speed but at least you can get yourself in shape.

A guy like Arreola could improve so much if he got in real serious shape, it would compensate for other shortcomings and make things a lot easier for him in the ring. It is not just a matter of conditioning and being able to spar 9 rounds in training. Being fat inhibits your movement, reduces power, takes away speed and snap. Arreola is a hard puncher but he would punch much harder and faster if he got in the kind of shape a world class athlete should be in. There are trainers out there that could help him but I fear he will do what most fatbodys do, stay fat and never realize his potential.

Reply: Exactly and that is what I am saying, no matter how good you think you are or your cheerleaders and yes men included, it is impossible to execute at a top level carrying so much fat into the ring with pendulous breasts instead of pecs and layers and rolls of fat in the way.

It never gets better it always gets worse espeically when there is not a really good fitness coach on board that can meld the bodysculpting routine in with the boxing program. Look at James Broad Axe Broad as was pointed out, Tony Tubbs, Tim Witherspoon and even David Tua.

Liking enchaladas is not the answer rather spartan discipline in one's diet like a pro and a serious bodybuilding and complete ab routine daily with double aerobic sessions until the mirror not the scale says the blubber is gone.

[StingerKarl]

Hi Karl,
hope all is well.

I posted this before but I did not see it up there so I will do it again.
Did anyone take the posts by me, Randy Gordon and the others who posted the way they felt here, and deliberately call his camp's attention to it to fire them up, or did this guy who posted through you, just surf the web and come upon the posts himself?

The rest of the boxing forums basically all said the same thing, so why just the cyberboxingzone?

Hiya Ron!

He surfs the boxing websites and contacted me, and another guy who writes for another site as well that I know of.

You are right the other forums say the same thing, and this one is a lot nicer to Arreola than the others have been from what I have seen.

See Ya!

Karl

[kikibalt]

Chris Arreola Dodges The Freight Train But Can He Duck The Buffet Table?

[Juan C Ayllon]

“ I was trying to find his weak points,” Arreola continued by saying, “he freaking hits hard, I had to take a knee, but I regained and came back. I am willing to fight anyone; I am willing to fly to Germany to take on Klitschko, I am ready.” The bout was for the NABF and WBC Continental Americas belts.

--Fightnews.com (Italics mine)

Geez, I watched that broadcast and the colorful adjective Arreola uttered wasn't "freakin'." If they wanted to replace his choice word with another like "freakin'," they should have put it in brackets (i.e., [freakin']) or parenthesis.

Tsk, tsk!

[Juan C Ayllon]

[Randy Gordon]

StingerKarl: Forget next year, when you said Ron Lipton and I and others-- who dared say that Chris Arreola was out-of-shape and looking like anything but a legitimate heavyweight contender--would be chasing Arreola around for an exclusive interview when he is heavyweight champion. Because that day will absolutely NOT happen, especially if your guy keeps gorging himself with enchiladas and anything else that is edible. So what I am going to do is beg for that exclusive interview NOW, while he is at least a contender, not a forgotten one. I would love to have your guy as a guest on my show, "Fight Club," on Sirius Radio, which airs from 5-7 pm (ET) every Tuesday and Friday. Let him talk with me...yell at me...discuss with me...cuss me out...throw verbal bombs at me... as we talk about his boxing career and where he thinks it is going. I love to have a guy on the air when he's hot, and your guy is hot. Next year, after he gets hammered unmercifully by either (maybe both) of the Klitschko Bros., there won't be much point in having Cristobal on as a guest, except maybe to tell aspiring young heavyweights that they should not make the mistake he made--that they should train with everything inside of them, and not waste the talent they are in possession of.

Look at the heavyweights who blew what bright futures they had in boxing by not doing enough pushups away from the table: Tony Tubbs. Greg Page. Tim Witherspoon. James Broad. Joe Hipp. Samson P'ouha. David Tua. I'm sure I am missing a slew of them. But you get the picture.

Sorry if I keep referring to Arreola as "Your guy," because I don't really know if you are friends with him. And I'm sure he is a pretty decent guy, outside of the ring. In fact, one day, I'd like to go one-on-one in an all-you-can-eat breakfast munchoff against him!

Please tell his camp insider to contact me here at the CBZ. I'll get him on the air as early as this Friday, when the main topic will be two guys who are in incredible shape: Oscar de la Hoya and Manny Pacquiao. I won't beg you this time next year for an interview, as Arreola will be in another line of work if he continues on this path. I want to...HAVE TO...interview him now, while he's as hot as he's ever going to be. Please. I'm begging. Begging in front of all my fellow CBZ'ers. Puh-leeeeeez! It will be a great interview, that I know.

Oh, and please don't tell us about the adjectives that were used when Rocky Marciano was coming up. They were used because Rocky was clumsy. He was wild. He was not especially fast. He was shorter than most heavyweights and outreached by all of them. He was absolutely not a defensive wizard. However, he was in shape. He was in tremendous shape. Arreola is in shape, too. Round! That's a shape, isn't it?

Tell Chris Arreola to stop hitting the enchilada wagon and start hitting the heavy bag.

As Max Kellerman ended his editorial with: "The Klitschkos have each put in their 10,000 hours. Will Arreola?"

Will he?

-Randy G.

[StingerKarl]

StingerKarl: Forget next year, when you said Ron Lipton and I and others-- who dared say that Chris Arreola was out-of-shape and looking like anything but a legitimate heavyweight contender--would be chasing Arreola around for an exclusive interview when he is heavyweight champion. Because that day will absolutely NOT happen, especially if your guy keeps gorging himself with enchiladas and anything else that is edible. So what I am going to do is beg for that exclusive interview NOW, while he is at least a contender, not a forgotten one. I would love to have your guy as a guest on my show, "Fight Club," on Sirius Radio, which airs from 5-7 pm (ET) every Tuesday and Friday. Let him talk with me...yell at me...discuss with me...cuss me out...throw verbal bombs at me... as we talk about his boxing career and where he thinks it is going. I love to have a guy on the air when he's hot, and your guy is hot. Next year, after he gets hammered unmercifully by either (maybe both) of the Klitschko Bros., there won't be much point in having Cristobal on as a guest, except maybe to tell aspiring young heavyweights that they should not make the mistake he made--that they should train with everything inside of them, and not waste the talent they are in possession of.

Look at the heavyweights who blew what bright futures they had in boxing by not doing enough pushups away from the table: Tony Tubbs. Greg Page. Tim Witherspoon. James Broad. Joe Hipp. Samson P'ouha. David Tua. I'm sure I am missing a slew of them. But you get the picture.

Sorry if I keep referring to Arreola as "Your guy," because I don't really know if you are friends with him. And I'm sure he is a pretty decent guy, outside of the ring. In fact, one day, I'd like to go one-on-one in an all-you-can-eat breakfast munchoff against him!

Please tell his camp insider to contact me here at the CBZ. I'll get him on the air as early as this Friday, when the main topic will be two guys who are in incredible shape: Oscar de la Hoya and Manny Pacquiao. I won't beg you this time next year for an interview, as Arreola will be in another line of work if he continues on this path. I want to...HAVE TO...interview him now, while he's as hot as he's ever going to be. Please. I'm begging. Begging in front of all my fellow CBZ'ers. Puh-leeeeeez! It will be a great interview, that I know.

Oh, and please don't tell us about the adjectives that were used when Rocky Marciano was coming up. They were used because Rocky was clumsy. He was wild. He was not especially fast. He was shorter than most heavyweights and outreached by all of them. He was absolutely not a defensive wizard. However, he was in shape. He was in tremendous shape. Arreola is in shape, too. Round! That's a shape, isn't it?

Tell Chris Arreola to stop hitting the enchilada wagon and start hitting the heavy bag.

As Max Kellerman ended his editorial with: "The Klitschkos have each put in their 10,000 hours. Will Arreola?"

Will he?

-Randy G.

Hi Randy!

I didn't say those things if you read the original post, someone else did.

I just posted his comments that were in reply to yours and Ron's, and another writers observations about Chris.

Incidentally, I agree with all that you and Ron have said regarding this matter.

See Ya!

Karl

[Randy Gordon]

Karl: I know that wasn't you saying those things. However, please see if you can reach that somebody you know inside of Arreola's camp and have him contact me through the CBZ...I'll forward my cell phone through the private message, if need be.

I really would like Chris to come on my show and speak his mind. I think it would make for great radio.

See what you can do. Heck, if Arreola is willing to face either Klitschko, he should have no problem taking some verbal shots from me. Besides, my co-host, Chris Thomas, is a huge Chris Arreola fan. It'll be two against one.

Thanks.

-Randy G.

[sr71ko]

Arreola showed guts in his win over Walker. That is guts in getting off the canvas to win, and guts as in his multiple stomachs. Arreola needs a couple of true barometer fights such as Oleg Maskaev or Sam Peter to see if Arreola is truly for real. After all Peter showed up MIA and passive in his fight with V. Klit. American boxing fans want to be convinced that Arreola wouldn't be any different. Hopefully for his sake Arreola gets in much better conditioning because he is truly a colorful character.

[Randy Gordon]

There is no question Chris "The Nipple" Arreola is exciting. There is no question he has guts, as seen in his picking himself off the floor against Travis Walker, then coming back in a shootout to stop Walker. There is also no question that Arreola is way overweight. But is he overrated? Is he indeed the bomber his record indicates? Is he the slugger we just watched flatten Travis Walker? Or is he just a 254-pound enchilada with arms who can punch?

I really hope he is back in the gym as he said he would be after the Walker fight, and not working out in some kitchen doing weight-lifting: A fork to the mouth in one hand, an enchilada to the mouth with the other.

-Randy G.

[PeteLeo]

I think Sam Peter would be a bad matchup for Arreola right now. Sure, Peter looked pathetic against Klitschko, but he does have heavy hands, and Walker showed that if you hit Chris before he hits you, you can get things done. Sam's chin is not the cement block the public was once led to believe it was, so maybe Arreola blows him out the way McCline should have. But . . . even though Maskaev is much more skilled than Peter, we already know he can be discombobulated by almost innocuous-appearing punches to the skull. Of the two, I think the Russian would be the better selection for Arreola's braintrust.

I thought Chris looked great against a fairly talented Witherspoon. Against Walker? Not so much. PeteLeo.

[sr71ko]

Randy Gordon's comment is Arreola overated is a real interesting question. There have been other decent Mexican-American heavyweights such as Manny Ramos and Alex Garcia. How would Arreola do against those guys? Manny Ramos fought Joe Frazier and lasted 2 rounds. What would Arreola do? Arreola has heavy hands, but the first left hook to body by Frazier would most likely make Arreola have a bowel movement. Alex Garcia started off like gang busters and I thought he would do something, but he had a few speed bumps and lost momentum. Garcia was actually scheduled to fight Tommy Morrison. Compared to this era's best big men Arreola is a solid contender.....but in the 1980s or 1990s does he even get past Alex Garcia? But to answer Randy Gordon's question: "Is Arreola over-rated?" I don't know yet, but I have a feeling that the answer most likely will be yes. Arreola is a colorful character, but is he the Mexican-American verison of Michael Grant? That is a young American heavyweight with all the hype turning into a pumpkin at midnight when truly tested.