Arreola Falls in Emotional TKO Loss
Chris Arreola (27-1, 24 KOs) had the desire, but Vitali Klitschko (38-2, 37 KOs) had the skill. Last night (September 26), the Mexican-American hopeful fought gamely but ultimately could not match the power and skill of Klitschko, who methodically chopped him down over 10 dominating rounds for a corner stoppage.
Arreola, who sported a soft belly and chest at 250 plus pounds, stormed out the gate seeking to pressure Vitali on the inside ala Joe Frazier. Klitschko calmly kept Arreola a step behind, alternately pawing and striking hard with the left jab and occasionally crashing in a chopping right hand.
Even with his hands down, Klitschko continued beating Arreola to the punch, and more than doubled the American challenger’s output over the early rounds. Arreola would smile after getting tagged, but his constant pressure was ineffective as Vitali was not getting hit with any clean punches.
In the 4th, Arreola seemed to be closing the gap by jabbing his way in, and forcing Vitali to give ground and taking away his punching leverage. Arreola was able to land a few glancing overhand rights and several body shots, but it was still Klitschko who carried the round with superior punch output and accuracy.
By the 6th and 7th, Arreola began to noticeably wilt under the barrage of punches. In both rounds, Klitschko started working the body with looping rights, and leaning his full weight on the challenger during clinches.
Arreola let it all hang out in round 8. He desperately flailed at Klitschko, landing a few jabs before getting stifled on the inside through clinches. The champion seemed somewhat rattled, but never stopped punching and repeatedly snapped Arreola’s head back with the jab. By the bell, Arreola’s nose was profusely bleeding.
The last 2 rounds were a Klitschko clinic. Vitali could not miss with the right, and punished Arreola with uppercuts, straights, and hooks that ripped open a cut above the challenger’s right eye. Arreola was now a sitting duck, and could do nothing but come forward and take flush shots. The end seemed near, and it was just a question of if Arreola could make it to the final bell.
Arreola’s corner had seen enough, and the fight was stopped as a tearful Arreola broke down in the center of the ring.
Both men were gracious to the other, and Vitali expressed his view that Arreola will someday hold the heavyweight title.
“He’s a very good, very tough fighter. He will be champion sometime (in the future),” Klitschko explained. “I was very surprised, he has a great chin. After my right hook, many opponents go to the floor. But he statyed, much respect…I feel very good, like I’m 25.”
“I’m real sorry to everyone, I really wanted to become a champion,” Arreola stated between sobs. “I worked my ass off. Vitali’s a strong m###########. He hits hard. I never wanted to quit. That’s never in me. I wanted to go the full 12 rounds. I knew he was f###### me up but hey I’m sorry guys….This ain’t the last you’ve seen of me, f### that I’m coming back!”
The silver lining for Arreola is that maybe this will serve to rededicate him to the sport. Despite his spirited effort, he can improve vastly in the conditioning department. And he’ll be competitive with anyone in the division that’s not named Wladimir or Vitali. We’ll see where he goes.
For the 38 year old Vitali Klitschko, he’s likely only going to stick around for 2 years tops. I’d like to see him in next with the David Haye-Nicolai Valuev winner.
But really, who do you give a serious shot to beat either of the Klitschkos?
Hopkins-Jones Agree To Rematch in 2010
Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones have sent shots back and forth since their 2002 rematch negotiations fell through over money. Now 7 years later, it appears both men have finally come to terms.
According to ESPN, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer and Square Ring CEO John Wirt negotiated a deal for the veterans to meet next year if Jones can get by Danny Green on December 2. That fight has been planned for months, and will take place in Green’s native Australia.
Recently, both men sparred on the radio and refused to bend on their requirements: Jones’ 60-40 split to the winner, and Hopkins advocating 60-40 for himself.
The compromise will be a 50-50 split, with the winner getting his purse upped to 60-40 for scoring a knockout.
This fight will be a rematch to their initial 1993 meeting, when Jones was already elite but Hopkins was still a few years away from his actual prime.
This fight will be tactical, but will still sell on their name value alone, and the guaranteed hilarious press conferences. However, let’s keep in mind this is all contingent on Jones getting by Danny Green, who has the power to take out Jones if the former champ is not focused.
In the meantime, let the hype begin.
Mayweather Humbles Dana White
Outspoken UFC president Dana White was very vocal over the last two months in stating the Floyd Mayweather’s return PPV bout last Saturday (September 19) would be a flop. In particular, White taunted that Floyd’s style was “boring” and Marquez was a “nobody,” two ingredients which he thought would ensure UFC 103 would come out on top in the first head to head PPV matchup between boxing and MMA.
But as the great orator Shawn Carter states, “men lie, women lie, numbers don’t.” The Mayweather-Marquez PPV was a shocking success, with a staggering 1 million PPV buys. The unexpected figure rebuffed boxing critics as well, who regularly insisted Floyd wasn’t a draw and could only sell with other big names like Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton.
“To all the non-believers who have been saying that Floyd Mayweather is not a draw, hopefully, this will silence them,” Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer told Yahoo Sport’s Kevin Iole. “Floyd Mayweather has proven with these numbers that he’s the No. 1 pay-per-view star in the business. I said all along my goal was to break 1 million homes and so many people said I was nuts and thought it was just hype or that I didn’t know what I was doing. Media members kept talking about boxing is dying, but we knew what we had and we stayed the course in the end, we have been vindicated.”
Dana White gave boxing credit, but framed the lopsided numbers as the result of UFC 103 being the company’s 4th PPV in 10 weeks.
“I’m an emotional guy and if we’d only have done 100,000, or barely above 100,000, I would be suicidal. Bottom line, we did a good number and we still got our a#### kicked,” he stated. “What they did was phenomenal and I’m happy for them. This was our fourth pay-per-view in two months (actually 10 weeks) and we still did a great number, but this was only their second all year. We honestly thought we’d do our number and that if they knocked it out of the park, they’d do around 650,000. We are ecstatic with the number we did, but they did a huge, huge number…I’m a true boxing fan and I’m happy for them, but what that number they pulled shows is the promise of combat sports.”
Hopefully going forward, both sports will take a more reasonable approach of working together instead of the counterproductive antagonism we’ve seen on both sides. Just think of the money pot for a Mayweather/Pacquiao and Fedor/Lesnar double headliner PPV (I know, it’ll never happen).
Throwback Fight of the Week: Joe Louis vs. Buddy Baer II (September 1, 1942)
Heading into their rematch, champion Joe Louis and towering 6’6 challenger Buddy Baer had unfinished business.
In their 1941 bout, Baer had stormed out in round 1 and knocked Louis out of the ring with a huge left hook. The champ beat the count, and subsequently worked over Baer for several rounds. After getting dropped 3 times in the 6th, Baer refused to come out for the 7th and was disqualified.
In the rematch, Louis picked up right where he left off. The dominant champion shook Baer with hard hooks on the inside. Soon, Baer was badly hurt, and his attempts to clinch resulted in snapping uppercuts. After a lazy Baer jab, a left-right hook combination dropped him for a 9 count.
Louis, one of the best finishers in boxing history, ended matters immediately with 2 left and 5 right hooks.
The bout would be Baer’s last fight, and he retired with a record of 50-7, 46 KOs.
Joe Louis would make 5 more defenses of the heavyweight title before retiring in 1949. He would make a comeback but suffer a lopsided decision loss in a 1950 combeack fight against Ezzard Charles. His final bout would be a 1951 knockout loss to Rocky Marciano. His final record stands at 66-3, 52 KOs, and he holds the record for most title defenses in any weight class at 25.