Vitali Klit. vs Cris Arreola 9/26

[diggity]

from fightnews.com
Klitschko-Arreola a done deal

FightNews has learned that the heavyweight showdown between WBC champion Vitali Klitschko and “The Nightmare” Cristobal Arreola is a done deal for September 26 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. According to sources close to the situation a press conference will be held next week to officially announce the bout. Klitschko, who won the WBC belt last year after a four-year absence from the ring, will make the second defense of his title. He last fought in March, stopping Juan Carlos Gomez in nine rounds. Arreola is currently the number one WBC contender. His last bout was a devastating knock-out win over Jameel McCline in April.

[PeterD]

Why do I get the vision of Klitschko using his jab and keeping Arreola at bay round after round while landing the occasional killer right hand?

[diggity]

Cuz I'd be hard pressed for anyone else to say otherwise, at least it won't be long...

[mrbig1]

Why do I get the vision of Klitschko using his jab and keeping Arreola at bay round after round while landing the occasional killer right hand?

Arreola has a good punch and that's about it. Zero skill and very little talent as a boxer. This will be just another easy win for Vitali. he's lucky he's not fighting little bro because it would be even worse.

[prototypeofamodernmadman]

Looks like Dan Goosen decided to throw Arreola into a big heavyweight fight at Staples before he gets exposed by a much lesser fighter. Pretty shamefull to rush Arreola into a bout against a fighter of Vitali' caliber just because they know they can get a great crowd turnout milking the "First Mexican Heavy Champ" angle

[prodigious1]

Vitali by KO/TKO.

At least Arreola will try harder in the ring than he does in the gym, but he's going down in this one.

[Overhand_Right]

Yet ANOTHER grossly overweight victim for Vitali, to add to Kirk Johnson, Corrie Sanders, Danny Williams, Samuel Peter and JC Gomez.

I'd of preferred to see Arreola try his chances with Wlad but hey ho, such a grotesquely bloated fighter doesn't deserve any breaks.

[PeterD]

How much would Arreola get for a fight like this?

[HE Grant]

Klitschko by KO within 3 ... Arreola is a joke, a pure marketing ploy based on his heritage ... Maybe he was a puncher's long shot if he fought the glass chinned Wlad but Vitali has a steel chin and will destroy him ...

The Klitschko Brothers are very smart ... they are working as a team. Each one chooses to fight the contender than has any shot of defeating the other brother ... Vitali fights the punchers like Peters and Arreola while Wlad fights the speedier movers who might test the aging Vitali ... very clever ..

[kikibalt]

The Klitschko Brothers are very smart ... they are working as a team. Each one chooses to fight the contender than has any shot of defeating the other brother ... Vitali fights the punchers like Peters and Arreola while Wlad fights the speedier movers who might test the aging Vitali ... very clever ..

Never thought about it in that light, but you are right HD.

[Overhand_Right]

God yes I think you're right!

[robertk]

Looks like Dan Goosen decided to throw Arreola into a big heavyweight fight at Staples before he gets exposed by a much lesser fighter. Pretty shamefull to rush Arreola into a bout against a fighter of Vitali' caliber just because they know they can get a great crowd turnout milking the "First Mexican Heavy Champ" angle

Agreed. And I'm somewhat surprised they didn't take bigger money to take his act on the road. Perhaps the networks didn't like the idea of Arreola as a road warrior and know the bout sells out at Staples. Picturing Arreola in Kiev or Germany makes a win look even more remote.

Man, does Arreola need a ton of conditioning work and a lot of help with legs/upper body movement/defense for this guy. A ton. Hardly an easy task having him get razor sharp for this opponent in this amount of time. And anything less than razor sharp is going to be a huge deficit. They must be hoping Vitali gets old overnight and doesn't throw 50/60 punches a round against their guy & loses some punch resistance.

One thing about the other corner, that Sdunek sure seems to have his guys ready on fight night. In shape and prepared. I can only think of 1 time his guy was the one getting blitzed and he's been in a ton of title fights. Hard to picture Arreola winning by anything other than surprise early ko or a cuts type victory. At least it's a heavyweight title fight though & the WBA frequency output in recent times has been dismal.

[TDKO]

I think it's the smarter choice (if it actually happens), Vitali is getting older,
and his engine could break down or seize, (his only chance, but it won't happen yet)
Cris would get jabbed to death while we get bored to death with Vlad, and may make an exciting fight while it lasts with Vitali, till he stops him early.
A valiant showing against big bro might result in another payday, a jabdown with Lil bro means hit the scrapheap.......

[PeteLeo]

Never thought about it in that light, but you are right HD.

Well, of course, they both fought and beat Sam Peter. PeteLeo.

[sr71ko]

Klitschko by KO within 3 ... Arreola is a joke, a pure marketing ploy based on his heritage ... Maybe he was a puncher's long shot if he fought the glass chinned Wlad but Vitali has a steel chin and will destroy him ...

The Klitschko Brothers are very smart ... they are working as a team. Each one chooses to fight the contender than has any shot of defeating the other brother ... Vitali fights the punchers like Peters and Arreola while Wlad fights the speedier movers who might test the aging Vitali ... very clever ..

You got a good point. After the Sam Peter scare( suffered 3 knockdowns), there was never a rematch. V.Klit stops a passive Peters, an overweight Corrie Sanders who kayoed W. Klit.(Would make sense to have had a rematch, but it did not happen). Careful match making and timing used to an art form. V. Klit will be the favorite, but I will be rooting for Arreola.

[HE Grant]

These guys are extremely clever ... Big Bro fights the punchers ...

[hagler04]

Vitali in a replay of the dreadful Danny Williams beatdown. People talk about Arreola's guarantee of 'going to war' but he doesn't have the legs or speed to go to war with Vitali . . this is a huge leap from Damian Wills.

Vitali will jab and potshot a sluggish Cristobal until Arreola either gets knocked down 5 times or his corner stops the slaughter.

This is the only boxing forum I've seen in which practically no-one has drunken the Arreola Koolaide. The guy is awful and real boxing fans can see this clearly.

[doomeddisciple]

If Arreola starts sporting a 6 pack instead of the whole keg I would at least feel like he was going to look healtheir before Vitali paws and bores his way to another victory.

[prototypeofamodernmadman]

totally agree with everybody, if Arreola was actually in good shape going into this bout, and actually had proper time to prepare, then maybe he could press the issue better, faster and for more rounds,

but I would wager him coming into the ring at 255+ with him and his team telling everybody, "we have to weigh a lot to fight such a big man" bla bla bla,

Arreola can punch, he will probably put more pressure on Vitali early than most other opponents and might be able to hurt Vitali to the body, but he most definitely will not be able to take the return fire, the McCline win was impressive but Jameel was able to hit him pretty easily when he tried and was hurting Areola pretty badly,

I don't feel Arroela is a true heavyweight, he is listed at 6'4 but when I met him at the Ward-Miranda fight, he was about the same height as me at around 6'2 and a half, another writer, Colin Seymour of the San Francisco examiner was talking with me and he also felt that Arreola didn't really look like a big heavyweight, his frame is kinda small with most of the size coming from lard,

too much too soon,

[mrbig1]

One thing that K brothers have going for them is ring generalship. Something that Chris lacks. He can come in great shape but if he doesn't know what he doing it's going to be a long hard night. Also Vitali is a master at finding his range and is a very good counter puncher. More bad news for a guy who has no business fighting for a title.

[hagler04]

Colin Seymour of the San Francisco examiner was talking with me and he also felt that Arreola didn't really look like a big heavyweight, his frame is kinda small with most of the size coming from lard,

,

That goes for most the division. Arreola truly in shape would probably weigh around 210.

I don't understand how these guys think . . . truly 'big' men like Max Baer, Sonny Liston and Ali weighed in the 205-215 range and were in excellent shape but any guy over 6 ft today 'has' to weigh in over 225-230, it's just stupid. That extra weight does nothing but slow guys down and make them flat-footed targets for the K brothers rangy arsenal. Chambers and his team are the only guys recently to do the obvious and maximize your 'ADVANTAGES' vs the super-sized guys, i.e. speed, mobility, and stamina by cutting down to 205 rather than grow a spare tire and somehow believe your punches are doing more damage, which they aren't.

[diggity]

This will be like Vitali-Johnson or maybe Williams. It says more to me that Cris' mangement knows he isn't going anywhere than they think he can actually beat him. So why not cash in before some nobody KOs him?

[mrbig1]

This will be like Vitali-Johnson or maybe Williams. It says more to me that Cris' mangement knows he isn't going anywhere than they think he can actually beat him. So why not cash in before some nobody KOs him?

Ding,ding,ding, We have a winner.

[sr71ko]

That goes for most the division. Arreola truly in shape would probably weigh around 210.

I don't understand how these guys think . . . truly 'big' men like Max Baer, Sonny Liston and Ali weighed in the 205-215 range and were in excellent shape but any guy over 6 ft today 'has' to weigh in over 225-230, it's just stupid. That extra weight does nothing but slow guys down and make them flat-footed targets for the K brothers rangy arsenal. Chambers and his team are the only guys recently to do the obvious and maximize your 'ADVANTAGES' vs the super-sized guys, i.e. speed, mobility, and stamina by cutting down to 205 rather than grow a spare tire and somehow believe your punches are doing more damage, which they aren't.

You are right. Boxing history shows that it biggest punchers from Langford, Dempsey, Louis, Marciano, Liston, Frazier, Foreman, Tyson and Shavers weighed between 185-220 lbs. of muscle. Louis about 195-205 lbs. Liston, Tyson, Foreman, and Shavers were between 210-220 lbs. Dempsey and Marciano were between 185-195 lbs. I wish Chambers had more pop in his gloves along with his speed and skills then would we have a champ from the US.

[prodigious1]

by Lee Payton
The Boxing Bulletin

Has Arreola Sacrificed Enough to Beat Klitschko?

On September 26, Chris "The Nightmare" Arreola will have a chance to become the first ever Mexican Heavyweight Champion when he challenges Vitali Klitscko in front of what is sure to be a passionate crowd at Staples Center, in Los Angeles. A former amateur stand-out, Arreola has gone undefeated in 27 fights as a pro, with almost all of his wins coming by way of knockout. When you see this guy fight, there's plenty to get excited about, but I have to admit that despite his potential and kill or be killed mindset, I just can't get behind him.

Let me start my explanation off by saying that I generally love Mexican fighters. Gimme the delightful arrogance of Morales, the deadly offensive discipline of Marquez, the brutal clinch work of Castillo, the almost psychotic style of Limon, and the hard-nosed work ethic of Ramirez (I could go on forever), and I'm gushing. These men are what boxing is all about for me. Of course, gutsy, granite chinned, go forward at all cost fighters with nasty hooks to the liver come from scary places all over the world, but those are traits of the prototypical Mexican warhorse. They're a joy to watch if want to see a man broken down in a violent way. They will test your heart, win or lose. You can count on it.

I think Arreola has some of that guerrero in him. I really do. He seems like a guy who loves fighting, and I can't see him pulling the plug when things get rough. He's also got some classic Mexican weapons, like a solid uppercut and a nasty left hook. What he lacks in speed and snap he makes up for in physical strength and heavy punching technique.

The problem is hunger. When those guys I mentioned earlier were on the way up, they were starving. You can't tell me that Arreola's desire is anywhere near the same level. The proof is in his rather comfortable financial situation and his waistline. He's hardly fighting his way out of poverty.

As a rare Mexican heavyweight who can fight, he's been moved along expertly by his promoter, Dan Goossen, who knows just what he has on his hands. Arreola has been paid well throughout his career to beat guys he was supposed to pound on. Many of his fights have been televised, including his last two, which were featured on HBO. What other heavyweight in the world gets on thee big time boxing network against Travis Walker and a retired Jameel McCline? He's been getting the Michael Grant treatment. Not the fighter's fault, obviously, but let's call it like it is.

Heavies rarely fight killers on their way up these days (there are none out there anyway) so I'll give him a bit of a pass for that. My main concern is with his pear-like physique. The man is just way too fat. He's good enough that it doesn't matter against a certain class, but boxing has never been overly kind to anyone who isn't willing to put the work in. At the highest level, this game has to be more than a day job or something you do a few times a year.

I find it astounding that he could be so soft at his age, given his profession. I think you'd actually have to be trying to be as overweight as he often is. Every movement is accompanied by an unsightly jiggle we're just not used to seeing in the ring.

There have been reports that Chris is taking this fight more seriously than others, and I believe them. I also believe those who say he began camp at about 280 lbs. I read that he is so serious about this fight that he actually started jogging! What?! Jogging?!!

Look, I'm sure that he's going to work harder than he ever has, but there is no way he can possibly come into this fight at his best fighting weight. I think those who are hoping for anything below 250 are going to be disappointed. There's just not enough time for him to get into peak condition, in my opinion.

Apart from the issues Arreola has with discipline, I think he's facing a difficult stylistic challenge, as well. Vitali is a 6'7 fighter who understands distance and how to utilize his height both on offense and defense. He uses a steady jab, that tends to come up from his hip, to keep his opponents at bay while sets them up for his other punches. I don't see Chris getting out of the way of these shots too often because he's not very quick of hand or foot, and he has virtually no head movement. Steadily pressing has never worked against Big Brother. He's a master of taking advantage of quasi-aggression from shorter fighters. At 6'3 or so, and with a head that is sure to be right there, I think Arreola's chin is on a tee.

And call it a hunch, but I don't think he's all that difficult to hurt. Not that he has been seriously buzzed all that often, but the way he reacts to shots doesn't exactly remind me of other stone-chinned Mexicans like Chavez and Castillo, who rarely ever blinked inside the ring.

Yes, Vitali Klitscko is 38 years old. He does have a history of injuries, and he has had it pretty easy in his two comeback fights. But we have seen him take flush bombs from real hitters like Lennox Lewis and Corrie Sanders without going down, so I find it hard to question his mettle, even at this stage. I think it's also important to point out that he has been an athlete his entire life. If you saw Arreola on the street, "athlete" is not a word that would cross your mind. As much as this sport is about mental preparation, it is still a physical contest, and in that category, it really is "no-contest".

In the end, it's about sacrifice. You don't truly love and respect this sport unless you are willing to accept the work that comes along with it. I don't believe Chris Arreola has struggled hard enough so I am picking Vitali Klitschko to win by knockout. It will be a painful lesson for the young man.

http://www.theboxingbulletin.com

[bfg]

This should be fun while it lasts...which should be about 5 rounds...

[kikibalt]

WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, left, poses with Cristobal Arreola during a media conference to announce their fight scheduled to take place on September 26. (Andrew Gombert / European Press Association / August 21, 2009)

BILL DWYRE
LATimes

Vitali Klitschko, heavyweight champ and Renaissance man, harbors dreams of world domination
The Ukrainian-born boxer speaks four languages and raises millions to help children in his homeland. He foresees a day when he or his brother own all four of the most coveted heavyweight titles.

Forget your preconceived notions, your visions of Mike Tyson-like characters, and meet Vitali Klitschko, World Boxing Council heavyweight boxing champion.

He lives with his wife and three children in Bel Air, speaks four languages, quotes French philosophers, has a doctorate in sports sciences and speaks passionately about the need to improve the lives of people in his childhood home of Kiev, Ukraine.

Klitschko has a foundation that has raised millions of dollars toward that goal and will be his main focus when his boxing days have ended.

He dotes on his little brother, an inch shorter at 6-feet-6 and a similar fighting weight of 255 pounds -- and who holds two other world heavyweight titles.

"He is the closest person in the world to me," Vitali, 38, says of Wladimir, 33.

Vitali says he won't ever fight his little brother, mainly because his mother, back home in Kiev, "might have a heart attack." Another reason, he says, smiling with much more pride than fear, is that Wladimir "is a dangerous opponent."

Right now, the heavyweight division in boxing is the Klitschko Division. That has served the sport well in Europe, especially Germany, where their fights sell out soccer stadiums and bring huge TV ratings. But in the good ol' USA, fans remember the Ali-Frazier-Foreman era and wonder whatever happened to Tyson. The Klitschkos are barely on the radar.

If they are at all, it is because of Vitali's 2003 battle with then-champion Lennox Lewis at Staples Center on June 21, 2003. Two rounds ahead on all three cards after six rounds, Klitschko lost the fight when the ring doctor took a long look at an ugly cut over his left eye and said no mas.

It took 63 stitches to close the cut. Today, Klitschko has no scar and only memories of what might have been, from a fight that created perhaps the most buzz of any heavyweight title fight since Tyson chomped on Evander Holyfield's ear in 1997. Klitschko says the cut had not caused him any vision problems, that his handlers had it under control by the sixth round, and that the doctor summoned to his corner by the referee had been called to look at a cut on his lip, not his eye.

Still, even Klitschko has to admit it was gruesome.

"When I looked at the film later," he says, "I said: 'Oh, my God.' "

He says his wife, Natalie, watching from ringside, was horrified.

"She was sitting next to Sylvester Stallone," Klitschko says, "and he told her this was bloodier than the movie."

When Klitschko fights again at Staples, that memory may actually sell some tickets. That will be Sept. 26, against local favorite Chris Arreola of Riverside, who is 10 years younger than Klitschko and has 24 knockouts in his 27-0 record.

It is a fight that has a chance to return some of the attention to boxing's heavyweights. It certainly has a chance to shine some light on the fascinating story and personality of Vitali Klitschko.

The son of a Soviet air force colonel and a schoolteacher, he moved to Kiev in 1985. It was the year before the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, 100 miles to the north. He and Wladimir were the family's only two children. Vitali was 14 when the accident took place. He recalls his father, as a member of the military, having more information and a better idea of how serious it was, calling home and telling the family not to open their mouths, to breathe through their noses.

"He said to wash our hands a lot, to stay inside," Klitschko says.

The accident happened April 26, and the sacrosanct Soviet May Day celebration on May 1, with children parading through the streets of Kiev, went on as planned.

"We had to go," Klitschko says. "There was no choice." Four years later, one of his friends who seemed completely healthy, suddenly became ill and died within a week. "It was leukemia . . . the radiation," Klitschko says.

He says when he and his brother are together they often get teased for being so big. He says he just tells people they are products of the radiation, that they are "a Chernobyl side effect."

More seriously, he says his father, now 62, has cancer.

In addition to his home in Bel Air, he lives part of the year in Hamburg, Germany, site of many of his fights, and another part of the year in Kiev. All three children -- Egor Daniel, 9; Elizabeth, 7, and Max, 4 -- were born in the United States and so are U.S. citizens. Max was born several days after the death of Max Schmeling, the former German heavyweight champion and Klitschko's friend, and was named for him.

It is Schmeling's influence that brings Klitschko to his third fight at Staples, more than any other boxing headliner there, including one whose statue is out front, Oscar De La Hoya.

"Max told me one time," Klitschko says, "if you want to be a real world champion, you need to fight in the United States."

Tyson had an influence too.

"I was 15," Klitschko says, "and we would find a TV to watch Tyson's fights. In those days of the Soviet Union, fighting professionally was not allowed. Everything was for the state and for the Olympics. But we would watch, and when I saw Tyson win the heavyweight title [at age 20, over Trevor Berbick] and I saw how young he was, I stood up in front of my friends and told them I would one day win that title. I was just a skinny kid and they laughed at me.

"Then, when I won the title, I went home to Kiev and called up all those same friends who were there the night I said that. I invited them to a restaurant. They got there, we sat down, and I took out the same belt that Tyson had won and put it on the table.

"I have a memory like an elephant."

Klitschko fought three more times after the Lennox Lewis fight, then was out for nearly four years after rotator-cuff shoulder surgery. He returned to take back his title with an eight-round technical knockout of Samuel Peter, Oct. 11, 2008, in Berlin. His most recent fight was March 21 in Stuttgart, where he beat Juan Carlos Gomez with a TKO in the ninth.

Of the four most-sought heavyweight belts in a sea of alphabet soup sanctioning groups, the Klitschko brothers have three -- Wladimir the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization and Vitali the WBC. The fourth, the World Boxing Assn., is held by Russian Nikolay Valuev.

"My dream is for the Klitschko brothers to hold all four at the same time," Vitali says.

Klitschko avoids predictions for his match with Arreola, other than one that befits a boxer who has never been knocked down, never taken a standing count and whose 37-2 record includes 36 knockouts.

"I promise one thing," he says. "I do not know who the winner will be, but the fight won't go 12 rounds."

That's as much trash-talking as you'll get from a man who plays chess, ran for mayor of Kiev in 2006 and was once honored by the United Nations for his work as a humanitarian.

bill.dwyre@latimes.com

[diggity]

I think I would quit being a boxing fan if Arreola were to win this.

[hagler04]

Does anyone of a more scientific mind than myself know whether it could be possible that the Cheynobl radiation had an effect on the Klitschkos being so big as they grew up?

[diggity]

Radiation damages cells & genes. I'm pretty sure it doesn't help them in any positive way like the Hulk.