LOS ANGELES (Sept. 22, 2009) – As if he needed extra motivation, undefeated, No. 1-ranked world contender Cristobal Arreola is miffed by the fact he feels he is getting slighted by World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champion Vitali “Dr. Ironfist” Klitschko heading into their eagerly awaited showdown this Sept. 26, at STAPLES CENTER. “One thing that kind of bugs me: I feel like I’ve been taken lightly,’’ the power-punching, popular, talented Arreola (27-0), who has had only one fight go the distance (24 by KO, two by DQ – on the way to a KO), said during Tuesday’s final press conference at Nokia Plaza L.A. Live in Los Angeles. I feel like they already think that it’s a cakewalk. Now they already have a date for December. They can still fight in December, but it isn’t going be for the world title, man. I’m gonna win it. I respect Mr. Klitschko. I respect him as a man and as a fighter, but inside the ring everything is outside the door and it’s time to fight.’.’
With a victory, Arreola, of Riverside, Calif., via East Los Angeles, will make history by becoming the first boxer of Mexican descent to capture a World Heavyweight Championship. Klitschko (37-2, 36 KOs), of Los Angeles and Hamburg, Germany, will make history by becoming the first main event boxer to headline a fight card at STAPLES Center.
Tickets are on sale at all TicketMaster outlets, by phone at 800-745-3000 and online at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets will be available at the STAPLES Center Box Office. Tickets are priced at $500, $300, $200, $100, $75, $50 and $25.
The world title fight, which is promoted by K2 Promotions in association with Goossen Tutor Promotions, will air live on HBO at 10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT. Doors open Saturday at 4 o’clock.
CRISTOBAL ARREOLA
“Vitali Klitschko has never fought anyone like me; someone that’s willing to take a punch to give a punch, or someone that has a lot of heart and fights with emotions.
“There’s always strategy going into a fight. But the thing about it is you always take it as you go in the ring and always you think about training; you have to get inside the jab. You can’t let him stretch his hands out and you go balls to the wall. You take the fight to him and make it a fight he’s not used to.
“This is a fight that definitely won’t go the distance. It’s going to be a fight that everyone’s going to want to see. It is not going be one of those boring jab fests.”
“Not only (becoming the first world heavyweight champion of Mexican descent) would it be history, but it’s a legacy I can leave behind. It means everything to me!”
HENRY RAMIREZ (Arreola’s trainer)
“He’s ready to go. It’s the week of the fight; we have fight week festivities and we have a few days before we go to work, and we’re ready to go.
“Vitali’s a big guy and it’s kinda hard to get guys to emulate that style. But the thing about Chris that is hard to emulate is the pressure that Chris brings is unlike any other. You cannot emulate it. It is pressure that is unbelievable and he (Klitschko) has never been in with it.
“I agree this fight won’t go the distance, but unlike everybody else I feel the longer it goes the better it is for Chris.”
DAN GOOSSEN (President, Goossen Tutor Promotions) on his thoughts on having perhaps his first world heavyweight champion in Arreola:
“We’ve had our big fights. The key to this one is realizing there is nothing wrong with getting lost in the moment of fighting for the heavyweight championship and making history. But when everything is said and done you have to go out there and walk through the tunnel at Buckeye Stadium as a freshman QB and go out and do what you do as an athlete, and Arreola will be up to the task.
“When Vitali talks about experience, forget it. The point of it is, experience is great if you’re not ready to play the big game. The great ones overcome all that and just go out and play the game.
“There’s no stopping Chris Arreola, not because he’s my fighter but because he is a true fighter that’s got the will and determination, the guts, the goals, the ability and the willingness. I’ll show you a world champion with what I just described.
“And there isn’t going to be anything that stops him Saturday night. That is my belief. Arreola will knock him out.”
