By P.H. Burbridge: Time moves on with or without you. YOU don’t dictate to it, IT dictates to you. And for Cristobal “The Nightmare” Arreola (33-2, 28 KO’s) turning 30 may have forced him to question whether his best days are still ahead of him or if they’ve already passed him by!
Arreola’s last five fights have come against fringe contenders who were simply not on the same talent level as he so the outcome of those fights was never in question however he’s fought four times in a span of 7 months which for a world rated heavyweight contender is simply hardcore old school. BUT, that’s not the story here. The reason fans are starting to sit up again is because Arreola is doing something he hasn’t done in years. Over the last 3 fights he’s kept his weight under 240 lbs and in doing so to a certain extent re-ignited fan interest in his career. It remains to be seen whether this latest run qualifies as his “you’ve got a friend in Jesus” reaffirmation or if it turns out to be just a mirage perpetrated by a desperate man. Regardless, only a blind man would fail to see that something has in fact changed.
Arreola is in the full throes of rebuilding his career after what can only be described as a dreadful 2010 which saw him underestimate and lose to Tomaz Adamek, a fighter he was expected to beat and SHOULD have beaten. The Adamek loss more so than the Klitschko loss started a process of self awakening that has led to the 2011 version of Arreola. The final tipping point came after winning a highly unmotivated and aesthetically displeasing 12 round UD over Manuel Quezada (29-5, 18 KO’s) on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights. A fight in which he injured both of his hands. By years end, fans in general had grown tired of Arreola coming in over weight and lacking in focus. It started to feel as if he had arrived on the scene, made some noise, failed in his big opportunity and was now ready to fade into oblivion.
Just another in a LONG line….
During this period it became abundantly clear that the shine was almost completely off and things needed to change fast. Back in December of 2010, I spoke with Arreola’s trainer, Henry Ramirez a couple weeks prior to the announcement that Chris would be bringing in renowned trainer, Ronnie Shields as his HEAD trainer. It was then that Henry informed me that Chris was thinking about bringing in “another voice”. Ramirez said “maybe somebody like Ronnie Shields” which made me feel immediately kind of sad for Henry because of the implication of such a move and how his position would be perceived by boxing insiders. You live by your rep in this game especially if you’re a trainer so a move like that from Ramirez’s professional perspective was just bad for business. Needless to say I was intrigued that such a move was even being discussed. Let me fill in some of the back story here. Henry Ramirez is my contact in camp and he and I generally have VERY frank discussions about what’s going on behind the scenes. Like Chris there is no BS in Henry. He always says what he means and he doesn’t attempt to spin things in a favorable light on either himself or Arreola. That conversation was no different and I had the sense that he was just about worn out at that stage. He had tried everything he could in the gym including teaming up with Strength and Conditioning coach, Darryl Hudson who he himself was getting a little tired of the no call / no shows and now Henry was enduring Arreola toying with the idea of bringing in a more senior trainer while significantly down grading his role.
Obviously, Ramirez was a little exasperated but as per normal remained optimistic and philosophical about the possibility of someone else coming in and at least seeing what he’s been dealing with. In the end, he expressed a willingness to work with anyone that might help Arreola improve so his attitude was “hey, if someone else can come in here and get more out of Chris then let’s do it.” Still, I expressed my opinion that he was kind of being hung out to dry for public viewing which he acknowledged and accepted.
So, off they went to Houston and into the unknown.
Arreola and Ramirez teamed up with Ronnie Shields for 3 weeks in preparation for the Joey Abell (27-5, 26 KO’s) fight which took place in Temecula, Ca back on January 28th and was televised on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights. Chris weighed in at 249¾ lbs which didn’t surprise anybody. He was lighter than in his previous bout against Quezada (256 lbs) but still didn’t give people a real inkling of what was to come. In terms of the fight, we got pretty much what we expected albeit a little faster than we expected it. (KO @ 2:18 of the 1st rd) And it was punctuated with a kiss on Abell’s cheek that caused some fan consternation feeling that it was a disrespectful gesture. I didn’t like it either. I also didn’t like the level of competition. Usually, if you’re knocking out your opponent in the 1st round then it only means one thing. You’re in too soft. But, ultimately the time they spent with Shields served its purpose as far as Ramirez was concerned because Chris realized that everything being done in Houston was already being done back at home in Riverside. In other words, there wasn’t some grand epiphany or realization that they were missing some level of technical instruction back in Riverside. What become unavoidably clear was the missing ingredient was Arreola him self. Honestly, there wasn’t anybody else left to blame. Like an addict he started to get sick of him self as well as his clear decline in stature. It doesn’t matter who you are. If you go from being featured on HBO to ESPN Friday Night Fights it affects you not only financially but emotionally. Well, it affected Arreola so much so that the trip to Houston became the positive turning point everyone had hoped for.
Back to Riverside….
Arreola’s next fight came 3 ½ months later on May 14th against Nagy Aguilera at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Ca. Aguilera back in late 2009 starched former WBC Heavyweight Champion and then #1 contender, Oleg Maskaev at the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, Ca. When Nagy stepped in against Chris he had lost 3 of his last 4 since that signature win including a devastating 2nd round KO loss to another former champion, Samuel Peter. The only point of interest turned out to be Chris’ weight but this time in a positive way. He came in at 234 lbs which surprised a lot of people. Once fans heard that Arreola was coming in at such a low weight a slight rumble began amongst those who admittedly enjoy Arreola’s fighting style but who seriously dislike his apparent lack of commitment. Many withheld their praise as did I. In the fight, he did what he was expected to do which was to apply constant pressure and not allow Nagy room to punch and it resulted in a 3rd round KO. He looked better than he ever has physically and his inner circle crossed their fingers that this new attitude would last.
Just 14 DAYS later on May 28th Arreola’s next fight took place and was televised from the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights against Kendrick Releford (22-15, 10 KO’s). Releford came into the bout tallying 2-2 in his previous 4 fights before Arreola made him 2 out of 5. Arreola came in at 236 lbs and although I didn’t particularly like seeing him eat so many jabs early he did eventually adjust and apply enough pressure to break the elusive Releford and registering a 7th round TKO. That brings us to last Saturday’s match on the untelevised undercard of HBO’s Williams vs Lara bout held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ. It came against a durable yet at the end of his road, Friday Ahunanya (24-7, 13 KO’s). Ahunanya was also coming into the fight 2-2 in his last 4 but was generally regarded as tremendously durable so the plan was to give Chris an opportunity to get some rounds in. Arreola weighed in again at 236 lbs but appeared a little off his game and lacking in sharpness. This lack of sharpness was evident in the 4th round when Friday caught him with a right hand followed by a left hook that appeared to briefly stun Arreola. It all started with a right uppercut that forced Chris to step back and as his back touched the ropes Ahunanya avoided a sneaky left hook counter before allowing Arreola to step into the right hand that was followed by a left hook which clearly got his attention. It was the only successful sequence for Friday the entire fight. Arreola quickly regained control and had Friday in serious trouble at the end of 7th round. He got a little over anxious and couldn’t finish him but eventually went on to win a clear 10 rd UD.
Honestly, he pretty much mugged Ahunanya and wasn’t nearly as bad as he rated his own performance.
So, what now? Lately heavyweight champion, Wladimir Klitschko has been dropping his name as a potential opponent for a Fall defense. I’ve got mixed feelings about that. On one hand you can’t say “no” or at least you shouldn’t say “no” to a heavyweight championship opportunity but you also have to ask yourself, is Arreola even remotely ready for that challenge? I’d like to answer “yes” but reality says “no”….You don’t tune up for a Klitschko on a Nagy Aguilera or Kendrick Releford or even a Friday Ahunanya. I personally would like to see Chris get a high profile fight on HBO against a legitimate contender before he goes after Wladimir even though I fully understand that the financial terms of such a fight would ultimately dictate that decision.
Long term it may do more harm than good.
There’s a second group of guys right beneath the Klitschko’s that I feel Chris could not only create some excitement with but potentially beat. A fight between he and David Haye seems like a natural. Haye coming off a disappointing performance against Wladimir needs to regain some semblance of credibility in the eyes of many fight fans. In my opinion, a fight between Haye and Vitali Klitschko at this stage is a mistake for David Haye. There will be no more significant paydays for him after Vitali and a fight with Arreola would definitely peak fan interest. Britain vs the USA always appeals to fans and being that both guys are punchers I think this one makes a lot of sense. Haye doesn’t have the tools to deal with Vitali and the likelihood is that he would lose that fight in more convincing fashion than the fight with Wlad. He might even get knocked out. It makes more sense from a management perspective to fit in a high profile fight in the US against possibly the most exciting fighter here in the States on HBO.
Haye’s promoter Golden Boy Promotions, Richard Schaefer has already been quoted as saying that a fight with Chris Arreola in the US should be his next move NOT a fight with Vitali in Europe especially since most fight fans will have a tough time believing Haye could win such a match after what they saw in Hamburg.
But, a fight between Haye and Arreola would be widely anticipated by fight fans on both sides of the Atlantic and certainly would make a lot of financial sense for both camps. The build up for that fight would be huge considering the personalities of the combatants.
Arreola needs a high profile world rated opponent to fight NEXT! No more fringe contenders. He’s gotten a lot of us to pay attention again so he needs to continue proving people wrong by showing them that this time he really has embraced the life of a PROFESSIONAL fighter.
If he can do THAT then it will be like the weight of the world has been lifted from his shoulders!
(Please feel free to contact P.H. Burbridge via email at PHBboxing@gmail.com with any comments or feedback.)