By John F. McKenna (McJack): In an interview with Ring TV.com, Emanuel Steward stated that WBO/IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko wanted to fight Chris Arreola next instead of 39 year old Jean-Marc Mormeck. Mormeck was the WBA/WBC cruiserweight champion until being dethroned by David Haye in November 2007.
Mormeck has won three fights in a row against 2nd tier opposition since moving up to heavyweight after the loss to Haye. Jean-Marc, who is 5’11” and weighs 215 pounds, is considered small in the Klitschko era of super sized heavyweights. Wladimir is 6’6” and usually comes in at about 245 pounds.
Steward was quoted as saying: “Wladimir wanted to fight Arreola this fight here. That was his dream after the Haye fight, to come back to America and re- connect. But I talked to Arreola’s trainer, Henry Ramirez, and he said that they don’t want to be anywhere near Wladimir until 2012,” said Steward.
“So we had to go with this Mormeck, because nobody else wanted to fight Vladimir. So this is a stay-busy fight in December, but the real goal is to get Arreola probably in the first part of next year.”
Arreola (33-2, 28 KO’s) has trimmed down considerably in his last several fights. He came in over 250 pounds when he fought WBC champion Vitali Klitschhko (43-2, 40 KO’s) in September 2009 and was pummeled into submission in 10 rounds. He came in overweight again when he lost by decision to Tomasz Adamek (44-2, 28 KO’s) in April 2010.
After his loss to Adamek, Arreola had an epiphany and decided that he would trim down and get into shape. Since that time the 6’4” Arreola has dropped down to around 236 pounds and has won his last five fights in a row. Chris, in his determination to stay busy will be fighting in November against a still to be named opponent.
Steward is impressed by Arreola’s new commitment to stay in shape, train hard and fight on a regular basis. He feels that Chris will push Wladimir and bring out the best in him. Manny also believes that Arreola’s crowd pleasing style will make for an entertaining fight.
Madison Square Garden has been discussed as a possible venue for a Klitschko – Arreola fight. A high profile fight in America would significantly raise the profile of the 35 year old Klitschko, who has fought almost exclusively in Germany over the past several years.
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