(Photo credit: Tiffany Lam) Chris Arreola (36-4, 31 KO’s) made the mistake of standing directly in front of the big hitting Bermane Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KO’s) and he paid for it tonight by getting stopped in the 6th round for their fight for the vacant WBC heavyweight title strap at the USC Galen Center, in Los Angeles, California, USA. Arreola was put on the canvas twice in the 6th, and the fight was stopped after Stiverne hit a totally defenseless Arreola with a couple of more shots. Referee Jack Reiss had seen enough and stepped in and stopped the bout at 2:00 of the round.
In the first knockdown in the 6th, Stiverne clipped Arreola with a tremendous right hand to send him down. It was a looping shot that Arreola didn’t seem to see until too late. As Arreola was picking himself off the canvas, Stiverne stood directly behind Reiss waiting to pounce on Arreola. Reiss turned around and gave Arreola a hard shove to get him to go to the neutral corner.