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Chris Arreola Meets Alonzo Butler on Nov. 5

Published

13 years ago

October 4, 2011

LOS ANGELES (Oct. 4) – Mexican-American heavyweight knockout artist Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola (33-2, 28 KO's) will be heading south to Leon, Guanajuato to make his highly anticipated Mexican debut at the grand arena “El Domo” on November 5, 2011 headlining an event promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions and Promociones Del Pueblo and broadcast on Televisa.

In his last fight this past July in Atlantic City, Arreola scored a unanimous decision over Friday Ahunanya, in one of only four fights to go the distance in his 35-fight career. Currently riding a five-fight winning streak, Arreola has noticed a big payoff from his newfound dedication to training, having competed recently more than thirty pounds lighter than his showings in 2009 and 2010.

For Arreola, his Mexican debut is very special, as the thirty-year-old Riverside resident's mother was born in Sinaloa, Mexico, and his father in Durango, Mexico.

“Its hard to explain my feelings about fighting in Mexico,” said Arreola. “Its like I'm thrilled because of their love for real fighters, but at the same time, it is important for me to put on a great show and live up to those expectations. It truly is a great honor to fight in Mexico and to box in a true Mexican environment. It's such a beautiful country, there's nothing like it as a fighter.”

“I just need to go out there and win convincingly, and keep winning convincingly. It's a great feeling for Televisa's interest of having me fight in Mexico, in front of the many fans that I want to see that I'm a true Mexican warrior.”

“As for my opponent, Alonzo Butler (28-2-21 KOs), I know he's got 21 knockouts in his 28 wins, and I have 28 KOs in my 33 victories, so you can bet it will be a wild swinging fight.”

Goossen Tutor and Promociones Del Pueblo last teamed up September 15 in El Paso, Texas on a card that featured 2008 Olympian Javier Molina and WBC Featherweight World Champion Jhonny Gonzalez. “We have enjoyed a great relationship with the Goossen Tutor team for many years, and it is always a pleasure to do boxing shows together,” says Oswaldo Kuchle. “November 5 at “El Domo” in Leon, Guanajuato we are bringing one of the hottest Mexican boxers today to Mexico for the first time.”

Kuchle went on to say “It's a very exciting time for our company to have secured Cristobal Arreola to fight in Mexico. Arreola is a true Mexican boxer and has the hope and support from the Mexican community of being the first Mexican to capture a Heavyweight World Championship. Televisa, our broadcast partner, is also very excited to be showcasing his debut in Mexico.”

Not to get lost in the hype of Arreola going to Mexico, Butler said this is the opportunity he needed to jump up into the higher echelon of heavyweights, “I understand one thing, I hit him on the chin clean, he will go down and out, and it changes everything in my life.”

With a total of 49 knockouts between them, and close to 500 pounds in the ring, these are two big punching heavyweights and chances are it ends dramatically.

“I participated in the biggest boxing event ever held in Mexico when our fighter Greg Haugen challenged Julio Cesar Chavez,” said promoter Dan Goossen, and it was one of the greatest experiences in my life with the fans and the media in Mexico.” There is nothing like it anywhere else in the world and having Chris being showcased on Televisa and in front of a packed house, will be the next step in the growth and recognition of the exciting fighting style of Arreola. The fans will love him.”

Also appearing in his first fight south of the border, will be hard-hitting world-rated lightweight John Molina, Jr. (23-1, 19 KO's) in a 10-round fight. Molina, a Mexican-American fighting out of Covina, CA, had agreed to fight Top Rank's Brandon Rios in December until Rios' camp declined the bout. Instead, Molina travels to Mexico in pursuit of his world championship goal.

Molina has put together a 5-fight winning streak knocking out all five along the way. “Obviously I was very disappointed Rios refused to fight me in Los Angeles; that was his choice,” said Molina. “I'm on the path to fight and beat whoever is put in front of me, no matter who it is.”

Other undercard bouts will be announced shortly.

The fights from El Domo, which is a short 45-minute flight from Mexico City, will begin at 7:30 p.m. CT and the Televisa broadcast will start at 10:30 p.m. CT/8:30 p.m. PT/11:30pm ET. Tickets are priced at 600, 500, 400, 300, 200 & 100 Pesos and are available at the El Domo box office.

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The Sweet Science

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Articles

Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

8 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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