By Eric Thomas: In a potentially intriguing bout between two sluggers in the heavyweight division, the rumor is that there is a possibility of former WBC heavyweight champion Samuel Peter (30-2, 23 KOs) taking on top contender Chris Arreola (26-0, 23 KOs) in the near future. Although it’s still speculation at this point, this is a fight that would easily be one of the biggest fights of 2009 and possibly a ending up as one of the best bouts of the year. Arreola and Peter are two fighters of the same mold, both heavy, slightly paunchy (okay, in Arreola’s case, maybe a lot paunchy nowadays), hard punching and accustomed to scoring early knockouts.
Arreola, 27, is considered to be the best American heavyweight in the division by many boxing experts, though he has still fought against mostly limited C-class opponents. With recent wins over Chazz Witherspoon and Travis Walker, Arreola has set himself on the pedestal as the best heavyweight in the U.S.
However, at the same time, he’s shown problems with his weight, ballooning up a huge 258 for his September bout against Israel Carlos Garcia, and most recently coming in at a still large 254 for his important fight against the knockout artist Walker.
The added weight did Arreola no favors in the second round, as he got hit with two monstrous right hands from Walker and knocked to the canvas. However, Arreola got to his feet, kept on slugging it out and succeeded in knocking Walker out later in the round. In the 3rd, Arreola jumped on a still hurt Walker, at the start of the round and dropped him with a left hand to the head to get the TKO victory.
The victory for Arreola, while good to get, was slightly tainted because of the knockdown he suffered, and because he seemed so open to right hands from Walker, and showed little defense in the fight. Worse, however, was the condition that Arreola came into the fight.
This was an important bout, and he took a major risk by coming into the bout weighing as much as he did. Arreola’s best weight is around 235, and anything more than that is too much for him, slowing him down. He’s not quick to begin with and wins his fights on his powerful attacks at the start of the fight, and for his style, he needs to be in better shape than he’s shown in recent fights.
Hopefully, the Arreola-Peter fight can be made, because this would be an excellent bout and would give the winner an added shot of credibility. For Peter, it would undo a lot of the damage that was recently done in his 9th round stoppage at the hands of Vitali Klitschko. As for who emerges as the winner, I see Peter coming out the winner in a brutal slugfest.
Arreola, who generally comes straight at his opponents, trying to beat them with power shots and little defense, would seem to be tailor made for Peter. If you stand and trade with a power puncher like Peter, he’s going to be able to get in his big shots and most heavyweights can’t take that kind of punishment for long.
Vitali was able to beat him by jabbing him all night long, leaning backwards to avoid his power punches. However, if he had stood close to Peter for the entire fight, trying to trade bombs, I have little doubt that Peter would have hurt Vitali and possibly stopped him. Peter knocked Wladimir Klitschko down three times in their 2005 bout, and had him in the run for most of the 12-round fight.
Arreola doesn’t have the jab or lateral movement or boxing skills that Vitali has, and would be forced to stand and trade with Peter all night long. Peter probably has the better chin, and clearly has the much better experience than Arreola possesses. That’s not good news for Arreola, because if Peter doesn’t fold in the first five or so rounds, Arreola’s lack of conditioning could come into play.
I think Arreola would cause Peter some problems for two, maybe three rounds with his huge attacks and heavy shots, but after the 3rd round, Peter will start taking control over the fight and eventually chop the 6’4” Arreola down with powerful right hands and left hooks.
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