By William Mackay: World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (37-2, 36 KO’s) may be kidding himself when he said recently that he sees a fight with undefeated American Chris Arreola (27-0, 24 KO’s) being more interesting for boxing fans than an fight with former cruiserweight champion David Haye.
Klitschko, 38, was recently abandoned by Haye, who instead of signing a contract for a fight with Vitali that he found unappealing due to the terms of the contract, Haye opted to take a fight with WBA heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev instead for November 7th.
Vitali, and his manager Bernd Boente, were furious that Haye had bailed on them. I guess, they figured that Haye had no other alternatives available to him and would just naturally accept the contract that Klitschko out in front of him so that he could get a fight with the champion.
With Haye taking off so suddenly, it’s left Vitali scratching his head wondering who he can fight. Eddie Chambers are Alexander Povetkin busy, and with Haye out of the running, there are few appealing opponents to choose from in the WBA.
Odlanier Solis, the unbeaten former 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist, has a fight coming up with Kevin Johnson. Fighting someone like 40-year-old James Toney would probably interest few people and likely send them in the opposite direction.
Arreola, 28, might be a better heavyweight than Haye. Indeed, he probably has the size and power to take Haye out if they were to meet up in a fight. However, I think Klitschko dead wrong about Arreola being the more appealing fight to the boxing public compared to a fight with Haye.
Arreola isn’t as well known in Europe like Haye is, and that’s something that Vitali shouldn’t overlook. Arreola is virtually unknown to European audiences, as he’s never fought outside of the United States. In terms of excitement, Arreola can be an exciting fighter to watch at times, but he’s much slower and more of a clubbing brute compared to the blazing hands of Haye.
It’s like apples and oranges. Haye has hand speed similar to a young Mike Tyson, whereas Arreola reminds one of an aging George Foreman in the 2nd half of his career. He’s clearly not fast and tends to get his knockouts by clubbing his opponents into submission. Haye has one punch knockout power and his speed makes him even more dangerous.
Arreola hasn’t looked good in his past three fights since his impressive win over Chazz Witherspoon in June 2008. At that time, Arreola was a trim 239, but he’s since gone downhill with his conditioning, and put on 15 pounds of fat. The weight has made Arreola slower and much more of a plodder than he was before. In his fights against Travis Walker and Jameel McCline, Arreola has been hurt.
In truth, Arreola probably isn’t ready for a fight against Klitschko at this time. He would need at least a year or so to work on his conditioning and to face some better opponents. However, time isn’t what the 38-year-old Vitali has much of, and he badly needs an opponent for his next fight in October or November.
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