Chris Arreola
Is there any reason, in light of last night's HBO win over Jameel McCline, to pay attention to Chris Arreola?
He's not going to improve much. He's a lazy motherfucker who relies on his power. He's relaxed enough in there so that he can go rounds without being in the best of shape. It'd take a trainer who not only understood that about him but who was also a master of psychology to bring out the best in him. The way you deal with this kid when he gets hurt isn't to tell him too much technical stuff, but to mention his daughter to him. You know, these fighters nowadays aren't true professionals.
And he's going to get knocked out now and then. Part of the problem with contemporary marketing is that there's no room for a guy who gets knocked out. That's stupid. This kid swings for the fences, punches hard, is in entertaining fights, comes off the canvas swinging, and takes his chances. That's a fighter I want to watch. He's not a great fighter. So what? Among today's heavyweights, he's way up there in the mix, and people will always be curious about how he'll do. Doesn't that make him more interesting than Valuev, Povetkin, Chambers, Peter, Chagaev, Rahman, Maskaev, and damn near anybody else in the current top ten?
I'd like to see him get his chance at either Klitschko brother now that there's a buzz around him. He's as ready as he'll ever be. And the division needs this kind of wildcard matchup.
posted by Charles Farrell @ 10:53 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I'd love to see Arreola fight Wladimir Klitschko. He has the mindset and punch to score the upset. I'd be a little worried about his chin and defense. But if he came out strong and sent the message that he was there to take Wladimir's head off, he'd have a great shot to beat him!
Arreola came in at 255, a pound over what he was for Travis Walker.
Unfortunately, he has obviously developed some very bad habits. He has the HBO shills pushing him, and Al Haymon as his manager. That means he is likely to get a shot at one of the Klitschkos pretty soon. But we've seen what they both do to out of shape guys, and his boxing is not good enough to penetrate their defenses. The gamble is that he can do so, but if he loses, he can also destroy his career and join Sam Peter in the ESPN2 losers' bracket.
Eddie, I'd love to see Arreola in there throwing at Wladimir first, then Vitali. It's not like he's Calvin Brock or Tony Thompson.
Eddie, I disagree that having Arreola fight one of the Klitschkos is a gamble that could potentially destroy his career. In fact, I’d go so far as to suggest that the moment he gets into the ring with either, win or lose, HBO and Al Haymon will have succeeded at their jobs. And, to a great degree, so will have Arreola. Rushing Chris into a fight like this is the same kind of astute move that rushing David Haye into a match with Wladimir Klitschko is: if you don’t do it, someone else is going to get to one of them (these guys being either Arreola/Haye on one side of the coin and Klitschko/Klitschko on the other) bumped off, kissing goodbye the big paydays they’ll make when they fight each other. Let’s face it; none of these guys has to worry about fighting for a place in boxing history. And, as Frank points out, it’s not as if Arreola is a complete no-hoper against the Klitschkos.
Post a Comment
<< Home