By Dan Ambrose: #1 WBC heavyweight contender Chris Arreola (35-2, 30 KO’s) has injured his left arm in training this week and won’t be able to face Mike Mollo (20-3-1, 12 KO’s) in their previously scheduled 10 round bout on the Victor Ortiz vs. Josesito Lopez undercard on June 23rd at the Staples Center, in Los Angeles, California.

Arreola and his team don’t want to chance it by still facing Mollo and end up hurting the injured arm worse than it already is. Arreola is being talked about as an opponent for IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in December this year in New York’s Madison Square Garden. That will be a big payday for the 31-year-old Arreola, and he obviously doesn’t want to risk missing out on that fight.

Arreola has rebuilt his career in the past two years with seven easy wins over 2nd tier opponents after losing to both Tomasz Adamek and Vitali Klitschko. Mollo would have been Arreola’s eighth second tier opponent, and it’s unclear whether any of this is going to mean anything when Arreola gets in the ring with Wladimir.

Ideally, you’d like to see a fighter face upper tier opponents in trying to improve and/or get title shots. But Arreola has taken the easy approach to a title shot, and it will likely lead to him being overwhelmed when he faces Wladimir. Hopefully after Arreola loses to Wladimir, he’ll start facing better opposition so he can improve rather than wasting time against lower level opponents. He’s not going to go far feasting on B and C level opposition.