Avila Perspective, Chap. 133: Chris Arreola and More News

Few if any heavyweights of Mexican descent are sought by major boxing promoters and that’s the world Chris “the Nightmare” Arreola entered back in 2003.

Arreola was a tall, skinny stick figure of a light heavyweight originally from East L.A. who surprised the amateur boxing landscape by winning the National Golden Gloves. I asked his trainer at the time how he did it?

“He knocked everybody out,” said Juan West who worked his corner back then.

Arreola (38-6-1, 33 KOs) will try to prove his relevance against fellow Mexican-American heavyweight and former world champion Andy Ruiz (33-2, 22 KOs) in a non-title fight on Saturday May 1, at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. It will be shown on FOX pay-per-view.

Though early on Arreola could have succeeded as a light heavyweight, he blew up weight-wise into a full-fledged heavyweight. Never the Charles Atlas figure, he was shopped around and the promoters gave him a look. None were impressed.

All the major boxing promoters passed on Arreola; even the second-tier promoters. Despite delivering 10 consecutive knockout wins against opponents chosen by the promoters themselves, they still were not impressed.

Arreola was featured on the undercard of a nationally televised boxing show in Palm Springs, California against a tricky fellow Mexican named Kenny Lemos. The main event was former light heavyweight champion Julio Gonzalez who was the first Mexican to win a world title in that weight division. It was Cinco de Mayo 2005 and despite being 100 miles from Los Angeles, many stars like James Toney were in attendance.

It was around this time that Arreola caught the attention of Wes Crockett and Al Haymon. That night the heavyweight now living in Riverside, California, would win by technical knockout in the fourth round over the tricky Lemos.

Southern California was not a hotbed for heavyweights during the early 2000s, but aside from Arreola there was another good heavyweight named Damian “Bolo” Wills knocking out the competition. Fans of both camps were clamoring for a showdown.

Wills was sponsored by actor Denzel Washington who was often in attendance for his fights. Whenever Wills fought, a slew of Hollywood celebrities would show up like the Wayan brothers, Cedric the Entertainer, and DL Hughley.

Goossen-Tutor Promotions began working with Arreola and the build-up of his career started in earnest. Wins over Andrew Greeley, Domonic Jenkins, Curtis Taylor, Lee Manuel Ossie, Sedreck Fields and Damian Norris convinced both the promoters and television that it was time for a heavyweight showdown between Arreola and Wills.

Las Vegas

On November 4, 2006, Floyd Mayweather met Carlos Baldomir in a unification fight for the welterweight championship. It was the main event at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. On this same fight card Riverside’s Arreola would finally meet L.A.s Wills in the boxing ring.

Arreola and Wills brought a large number of fans to the event and many of those fans were excited to finally see this showdown between Southern California heavyweights after all the talk.

Though not all the seats were filled, tension filled the air when the two heavyweights entered the boxing ring. Arreola hugged Wills which seemed to surprise and disarm the L.A.-based heavyweight and the fight began.

Both heavyweights were careful, but Arreola seemed more comfortable in the ring. For some reason Wills seemed overly cautious. Little by little Arreola took control of the fight and hurt Wills several times including a knockdown. The fight was stopped in the seventh round.

It was a huge victory for Arreola who celebrated after the fight across the pedestrian bridge at the Luxor Hotel. Many of his fans from the Riverside area partied with him at a night club and the highlight was watching Arreola make it rain dollars. People scrambled for the dollar bills and toasted the winner.

Ironically, maybe one year after the fight, Wills and Arreola met for sparring in a Riverside boxing gym. It was a surreal scene taken right out of the pages of the Rocky 3 playbook. Wills tore into Arreola like he stole his girl.

“I think he was still a little upset at me,” said Arreola.

World Title Challenges

When WBC heavyweight titlist Vitali Klitschko chose Arreola as his next opponent it was a shocking surprise but it made sense. The giant Ukrainian fighter had problems drumming up interest in his fights and fighting a Mexican-American in an area dominated by Mexican-Americans was just the right call.

In the summer of 2009, at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, Klitschko and Arreola met with a large pro-Arreola crowd praying for a victory.

Few heavyweights of Mexican descent are ever offered an opportunity to fight for the world title. A short list of L.A.-based heavyweights such as Eddie “the Animal” Lopez, Joey Orbillo and Manuel Ramos all fought in the heavyweight division. Only Ramos fought for a world title when he battled Smokin’ Joe Frazier for the New York version of the world heavyweight title at Madison Square Garden in 1968. Muhammad Ali had been stripped of the world championship for refusing to be inducted into the military but was undefeated. So, New York created its own version.

Arreola was entering rare territory; the kind history books don’t forget. On Sept. 26, Klitschko proved too big, too strong and too experienced for Arreola who never stopped trying. But for 10 rounds Klitschko snapped back the head of Arreola so many times it looked like it was going to come off. Despite the screams of support from fans, Klitschko forced a stoppage at the end of the 10^th round with a constant battering.

It would take another four years to obtain another world title shot for Arreola, and he would lose in 2013 and 2014 in world title bids against Bermane Stiverne. Two years later in 2016 he would meet Deontay Wilder for the same title and lose by stoppage.

Most thought Arreola’s career was over following the loss to Wilder, but the Mexican heavyweight knocked off younger challengers. In his last fight against Adam Kownacki he shocked the boxing world with an eye-opening battle that saw both fighters break television numbers for most punches thrown in a heavyweight fight. It was a tremendous surprise to see Arreola firing blow after blow like a machine gun. He credited new trainer Joe Goossen (pictured on the right) for the resurgence.

Now, Arreola is poised to fight the first heavyweight of Mexican descent to actually win a world title in Andy “the Destroyer” Ruiz. The circle is complete.

“It’s my time and my turn to change history and prove I’m a great Mexican heavyweight,” Arreola said.

A decade ago, they last met each other at a hillside backyard in Riverside. At the time Ruiz was just a young buck looking to make a name. Arreola was a heavyweight contender looking for someone to help him prepare for a battle. That night they got a taste of each other’s talent. It didn’t last long but each fighter got his blows in. Neither was hurt but each learned a lot about each other.

On Saturday we shall see who learned the most.

“I knew the day would come. He is a dangerous man,” said Arreola of Ruiz. “At one point, he wanted to be like me. And now, I want to be like him.”

Fights to Watch (Pacific Coast Time)

Fri. ESPN+ 11 a.m. Moruti Mthalane (39-2) vs Sunny Edwards (15-0); Michael Conlan (14-0) vs Ionut Baluta (14-2).

Fri. Estrella TV 7 p.m. Miguel Marriaga (29-4) vs Jorge Garcia Jimenez (14-3-1)

Sat. DAZN 10 a.m. Dereck Chisora vs Joseph Parker; Katie Taylor vs Natasha Jonas

Sat. FOX 4 p.m. Erislandy Lara (27-3-3) vs Thomas LaManna (30-4-1).

Sat. FOX pay-per-view 6 p.m. Andy Ruiz (33-2) vs Chris Arreola (38-6-1); Sebastian Fundora (16-0-1) vs Jorge Cota (30-4); Omar Figueroa (28-1-1) vs Abel Ramos (26-4-2).

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