By James Slater: According to Boxrec.com and the official website of heavyweight Joey Abell, Abell will slug it out with top-ranked contender Chris Arreola in January. Set to be televised by ESPN2 (Boxrec have the fight down as taking place January 28th of next year, venue to be determined), Arreola Vs. Abell should be a lively, fun fight.
29-year-old Arreola, 29-2(25) will be looking to put on a better show than he gave in his last fight, back in August. Fighting fellow Mexican/American Manuel Quezada, “The Nightmare” failed to score the KO he surely wanted, and in the end, though he decked his man three times, Arreola had to settle for a wide points win. Unfortunately, to go with his UD win came two badly damaged hands; which required surgery. Despite this serious setback, the fan-friendly warrior is keeping himself busy in coming back to the ring five months on from the Quezada win. What can Arreola expect from Abell?
Known as “Minnesota Ice,” Abell is the same age as Arreola at 29, and he has a decent 27-4(26) pro record. One look at the number of KO’s the 6’4,” approx 245-pounder has scored let’s you know he can bang and is a very dangerous opponent for anyone. Adding to his danger value is the fact that the Minnesota big man is a southpaw. Arreola had better be in fighting shape for this one.
Okay, Abell, who has been stopped just twice, has never met the division’s elite, but he does have some useful wins to his name. Teke Oruh was out-pointed, and the reasonably-durable Louis Monaca was TKO’d in the 4th-round. Abell is unbeaten in his last eight, and he has bounced back well from the bad patch that saw him lose three in a row back in 2008.
Abell was TKO’d in the 4th by Andrew Greeley in his first fight of 2008, he was then out-pointed over six by the vastly experienced Al Cole, and Abell then lost via DQ, when he hit Jason Nicholson while he was down in the very 1st-round. Since then – aside from the Dec. 2009 one-round No-Contest with Raphael Butler, where Abell belted Butler at the end of the round, rendering him unable to continue – “Ice” has kept a clean sheet.
Certainly a rough and tough character, Abell is as tall as Arreola, he arguably hits just as hard and he is a lefty. Arreola has been in with hard-hitters before, of course, and he has also dealt with southpaws before (but not for quite a while has he met a lefty), and it goes without saying how Arreola is by far the more experienced fighter. However, motivation-wise, Abell might be up for this fight more than the big name “star” of the show.
We all know Arreola cannot afford another loss if he wants to get himself a second crack at a world title, and it’s good that he’s keeping busy against guys who are not pushovers. Abell will be pushing himself in the gym as hard as he can, and he will almost certainly do likewise in the ring. Again, Arreola can’t afford to take this fight lightly.
It should be explosive while is lasts, and there could be some good punches both thrown and exchanged. Arreola must be looked at as the favourite to win, but the January fight could be the first slugfest of 2011.