By John F. McKenna (McJack): Chris Arreola will be stepping up in class in 2012 to face a higher level of competition than he faced in 2011. Chris kept busy in 2011 by fighting five times while concentrating on keeping his weight under control. In an interview with FIGHTHYPE Arreola’s trainer Henry Ramirez said that 2011 was a rebuilding year and was the year that Chris started taking boxing seriously and became dedicated to boxing.

Chris will fight on Showtime on February 18 in Corpus Christi, Texas against an opponent yet to be named. He will be co-featured with Paul Williams on the event. There are several names being discussed. Ramirez was quoted during the interview saying:

“Obviously we are going to step him back into those fights to get people interested again, being on Showtime World Championship Boxing, it’s going to be a higher caliber opponent than we faced in 2011…. someone where we can push him and Chris is in line for a Wladimir Klitschko fight after this.”

Klitschko had made overtures to Arreola as well as other fighters in the latter part of 2011 and Ramirez conceded at that time that Chris was not yet ready for Wladimir. For that reason Wladimir settled for taking on former cruiserweight champion Jean-Marc Mormeck. The Klitschko – Mormeck fight will take place on March 3, after being pushed back from its original date in December due to Klitscko’s kidney stone surgery.

Ramirez feels that with Arreola’s rededication to the sport his problems with weight control are in the past. Part of the plan was to keep him active in 2011. Ramirez concedes that the level of competition Arreola faced in 2011 was mediocre, but that those fights served the purpose of keeping him focused on training and staying in shape. Now that Chris is refocused Ramirez wants him to make a serious run at Wladimir Klitschko in 2012.

“Nithtmare” as his fans call him is a Mexican – American and extremely popular in both the Mexican and American communities. He is a slugger and has a crowd pleasing style. In September of 2009 he fought the heavily favored WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Arreola came into the ring over 250 pounds, roughly 20 pounds above his current fighting weight. Klitschko totally dominated the fight and in usual Vitali Klitschko fashion battered Chris into submission resulting in a TKO stoppage between the 10th and 11th rounds.

Wladimir Klitscho indicated in the latter part of 2011 that he wanted to raise his profile in the U.S. by taking on an American contender in the United States. Chris Arreola is thought to be among the fighters under consideration.