Arreola Destroys Walker – Is Klitschko Next?
December 1st, 2008
By Jim Dower: Unbeaten heavyweight contender Chris Arreola (26-0, 23 KOs) destroyed power puncher Travis Walker (28-2-1, 22 KOs) in a 3rd round stoppage in a International Boxing Federation (IBF) Heavyweight Title Eliminator match on Saturday night at the Citizens Business Bank Arena, in Ontario, California. Arreola was knocked down after getting hit with two right hands in the 2nd round. However, he quickly returned the favor, knocking Walker down in the same round with a hard right hand.
In the 3rd round, Arreola finished matters by knocking Walker down with a huge left hook to the head that sent Walker into the corner on his back. Although Walker looked as if he could have continued fighting, referee Jack Reiss never gave him a chance, stopping the fight at 0:13 of the round.
Walker looked upset at the stoppage, naturally, but it was probably best that the fight be stopped, because Walker still looked shaky from the previous round knockdown and would have had little chance to survive if the fight had continued on a little longer.
Nevertheless, Arreola, ranked #2 in the World Boxing Council, #4 in both the IBF and WBO, and #8 in the WBA, showed excellent power and good recuperative ability that enabled him to recover from being hurt in both the first and second rounds.
What he didn’t have, though, was a good defense as he immediately retreated to the ropes in the first round and took a lot of punishment from Walker in the round, getting stunned early by a couple of rock solid right hands thrown from Walker.
Arreola showed the same defensive lapses in the 2nd round when Walker hurt him with a couple of big right hand shots and put him down. While Arreola was able to get off the canvas, recover enough to hurt Walker and put him down, it was mostly because of Walker’s poor defensive ability of his own and sloppy fighting technique that made this possible.
Against a skilled fighter like IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, who likes to fight at a distance, Arreola would have had few chances to land his short bombs. Additionally, Arreola’s poor condition in which he came into the fight, weighing in at a portly 254 pounds and looking a minimum of 25 pounds overweight, would likely cause him big problems against a fast heavyweight like Wladimir or a power and in shape one like his brother, Vitali Klitschko.
Arreola later had this to say about the fight “I just got caught, Man [referring to his 2nd round knockdown by Walker], it’s very simple. He’s a very strong guy. I felt it right away. That’s why I backed up to the ropes. I wanted to see what he had to offer, and you know what, Man, he’s strong, strong guy.”
“I got to come ready, meaning in better shape than this fight. [now referring to a possible future fight with one of the Klitschko brothers] I wasn’t worried about my weight this time. All I was worried about was going to war this man. And went to war for two rounds, and that’s all I needed. As soon as the fight was over, I was thinking about Klitschko already.”
The win sets Arreola on course for a fight against the winner of Wladimir Klitschko vs. Hasim Rahman, which takes place on December 13th.
Tags: 11 Responses to “Arreola Destroys Walker – Is Klitschko Next?”
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First rate comments from Mombo, spot on. I don’t care if Arreola comes in fat he won and nothing else counts, he did the job. I like him and he is good for boxing but at the moment he is not up to a Klitschko match it would be so one sided. I’m not on the Haye band wagon, he was a good cruiser weight not a great one he beat those in front of him, not his fault they weren’t great, but they weren’t. Wladimir still says Im not the greatest until I have beaten them all and they are still coming and he is still beating them. the brothers are good for boxing real professionals and never mouthy how any one could hate them I don’t know. Rahman by KO Povetkin by KO Gomez late KO. Then its onto the new batch.
cool. adam -the vitali ko might not have been mma, actually. but it was some kind of karate thing. read that a kick to the chin put him out. but that was 10+years ago. if it’s true. who cares? vitali has a lot left in the tank -even after the injuries.
the fight with lennox was brutal. too bad the cut was so bad. in a strange way, it was a good night for both guys. i don’t think they will rematch. deals like that only get made when there’s maximum pressure on both sides to make it happen. vitali’s pressure is there -he wants redemption, he wants another shot. lennox has little pressure to do anything. there’s not enough money to tempt him (especially in this economy) and, like it or not, he won the first fight. why risk it? oh, well. that fight would be 4 years too late anyway.
haye is all hype. sprawled on the floor in four by both Klitschkos. vlad would destroy haye, especially with that left hook he likes to turn over. jab, jab, jab -then whap! that short hook. i don’t think haye could get at vlad. it’s not a matchup i like.
emanuel stewart has completed vlad’s training. i don’t think vlad’s a boring fighter at all like some say. to me, there’s a big difference between a guy who fights boring and a guy who’s in boring fights. they are not the same thing. vlad doesn’t fight boring at all to me.. if a vlad fight is “boring” it’s usually because he’s totally out-classed his opponent. i actually like watching a clinic like that if one guy is in his zone. (one of my favorite fights of all time is mayweather destroying gatti. boring? maybe. but to me -it was textbook.) sometimes one guy is simply better. (think: vlad vs. brock) and so what if vlad fights “cautious”? good for him. hit and don’t get hit. that’s part of the science. vlad gets that. another thing i like about him: he’s active. i like a champion that does that -puts the belts on the line a lot. he gets it. vlad could be champion a long time.
*arreolo would need to train HARD for 2 straight years, take on some serious contenters during that stretch , before even thinking about getting in the ring with a klitschko bro. even then, it wouldn’t last long. arreolo’s a poor man’s david tua. a very poor man’s. he’d get hurt bad, maybe permanent.
*now goosen is saying the winner of toney/thompson should get a shot at one of the klitschkos. why just the winner? why not both guys? make it a chicken fight. toney can sit on thompson’s shoulders and they can fight vlad together. might be their only chance. i feel sorry for james toney. he has mad skills, but it’s over for the guy. he needs to hang them up.
*valuev/holyfield could set this sport back years. the sad thing: a flush shot from valuev might be just the thing to show holyfield the light.
In shape or not Arreolo wouldn’t even put up a fight against either Klitschko.
Chris Arreola has the ability to unify the heavy weight division but he will never accomplish that. He is just too fat. He is a fat slob and will never ever reach his potential.
Nath,that is a fair post.But i think Arreola would kill Haye and i want to see 1 of the Klitschko’s destroy Haye.
Lets not over reacted this Arreola is a long way off being able to compete with the vitali or wlad who are by a long distance the best in the division. He has been well over weight for his last 2 bouts and anything like that shape against either brother and he has no chance. Why not put him against Haye and see who is the best contender, this would give the winner of that fight lots more belief going into a title fight and finally sort out the myth of David Haye( who i rate very highly by the way.
This is the first i’ve ever heard of Vitali gettin KO’d in a mma fight.And the Lennox Lewis fight i think was just the opposite.I’ve watched the fight at least 50 times and Lennox was through.He hit Vitali with everything he had and Vitali took it.But im not gonna sit here and try and defend Wlad’s fight with Sanders because it was an ass whoopin,but i dont know how people can say he has no heart.He got up and he was gettin hammered.As for his chin,he doesnt have Vitali’s chin but like you said,his defense has improved and now i think he is a total fighter.But anyway bro it was nice to have a intelligent conversation on this site for once.This site is filled with Klitschko haters and David Haye lovers.I cant wait for either bro to get a hold of his ass
adam, good points. but rememer: vlad got knocked down by darryl touch of sleep too. just not sure vlad has a quality beard. lost to sanders was a ko -yeah, he got up but was out on his feet. let’s just say i have my doubts. but i could be wrong. his defense has sure improved.
vitali was on his way to night-night land with lennox, imho, and don’t forget those rumors that vitali once got ko’d in a mma fight. (no youtube video sadly) vitali looked great against peter, yes, and he’ll have an easy time with rahman, who has nothing left. in a weird way, all of vitali’s injuries might prolong his career -he seemed fresh against peter and free of rust. he could rule for years, with his bro.
right now, vlad is by far the class of the division. i don’t know why so many people are down on him. i think he’s a great technical fighter who throws bombs with power. but vitali might be better overall. too bad they won’t fight each other. it’s the only heavyweight fight with any meaning.
Well mombo, i agree with most of your post.But i disagree with the comment that any big puncher can KO both Klitschko’s considering that they haven’t been KO’d in 91 professional fights.Vitali hasn’t even been knocked down in his career.Wlad’s chin is not as good as Vitali’s,but his chin is underestimated.Wlad went down 3 times against Peter but got up to win every round but the first 2.Corrie Sanders hit Wlad with everything under the sun and Wlad got up everytime.Same with Ross Purity earlier in Wlad’s career.There’s a reason the Bros hold 4 of the 5 belts and soon to be 5 of the 5.
the only way he beats vlad is if the russian mob puts the fix in.
otherwise, this guy is face-down in round 3. boxing’s kimbo slice.
i think james toney would school this guy.
but i do think a big puncher could KO both klitschkos, but when it comes to tactical skills, conditioning and defense -i see little of them with arreola.
the only ppv in his future is as a cable tv installer. he can set up my system for the next real fight.
Ummmmm!!!!NO.If Arreola was to make it to 1 of the Klitschko’s he would be destroyed in a round or 2.He doesn’t have any of the necessary skills or power to beat either Klitschko.Let’s move on.