Prospects Chambers, Arreola Win

LAS VEGAS-Eddie Chambers proved to boxing critics in town to cover a mega fight that he could possibly be the future of the heavyweight division and Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola stopped Malcolm “The Showtopper” Tann with technical knockout win at the Palms Casino on Friday.

Chambers stepped in the ring against former contender Dominick Guinn and basically out-Guinned Guinn in a 10-round affair that could have been staged in 10-foot boxing ring.

Though Guinn looked much more animated than in past fights, it was always the quicker hand speed in Chambers counters that proved to be more eye-catching for the referees who scored it unanimously in the Pittsburgh native’s favor 100-90, 97-93 twice for Chambers.

“I’m not satisfied with my performance,” said Chambers (29-0, 16 KOs), who battled evenly every round with the more experienced Guinn. “This is a great win for me but I’m not totally satisfied.”

Guinn opened the fight with more enthusiasm and had a much faster gear. In the past the Arkansas fighter tended to be too lethargic and tentative. Not against Chambers who was nose to nose with him.

“I thought the fight was mine,” Guinn (28-5-1, 19 KOs) said, who was trained by Ronnie Shields for this fight.

Chambers accepts the win but feels he was below par.

“I can do better,” he said.

In the semi-main event California heavyweight Arreola had been training for about three weeks expecting to fight Devin Vargas who stands about six feet, one-inch. Instead he got five more inches of height and power in Malcolm Tann.

“He took a lot of shots and he threw a lot too,” said Arreola (20-0, 18 KOs).

Facing a last-minute replacement who some considered better than the originally scheduled fighter, Arreola managed to out-quick the taller Tann (23-3, 12 KOs) who had been asking for a bout against the Riverside boxer the last two years.

Tann probably wishes he didn’t offer his services to fill in for the injured Devin Vargas.

“I screwed up,” said Tann, who had never been stopped as a professional. “I have to give the guy credit. He is a good fighter.”

For eight rounds Arreola used quick left hook counters to snap Tann’s head repeatedly. Inside or out Arreola was much more accurate and able to land shots almost at will.

Though it looked like Tann would survive through the eighth and final round, a left hook by Arreola began an avalanche of punches that knocked the North Carolina heavyweight down and through the ropes.

Referee Robert Byrd stopped the fight at 1:07 for a technical knockout win for Arreola who remains undefeated.

“I feel good about the win because he was a last-minute replacement,” Arreola said. “This win was a step up for me.”

Philadelphia’s undefeated heavyweight Malik Scott (28-0, 10 KOs) used his quicker hands to score a unanimous decision over Las Vegas fighter Charles Shufford (20-7-1, 9 KOs) after 10 rounds. The judges scored it 100-90, 99-91 twice for Scott.

Scott used his quickness and agility to keep Shufford from setting up retaliatory power blows. At times it seemed the Las Vegas heavyweight could pull off an upset if he stepped up the tempo, but in the end Scott just fired many more punches.

In a welterweight bout Francisco Santana (6-0) used more accuracy and volume to score a unanimous decision over Lester Balmores (2-6-1) of Henderson, Nevada. A knockdown of Balmores in the second round made scoring easy for Santana who won 40-35 on all three judges cards.