By Brian Kenneth Blackwell: One could sum up this fight in one sentence. Simply, Arreola was beaten to the punch. Tonight Vitali Klitschko stopped Chris Arreola via a 10th round knock out at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California in front of a packed audience. What appeared to begin as a promising challenge to Vitali’s throne, Arreola’s corner called for the fight’s end at the end of the 10th round with Arreola beginning to take a severe beating, though fighting valiantly throughout the match.

Round 1 began with Vitali creating space for himself, circling the ring firing jabs, followed by straight rights and uppercuts. Arreola seemed content to follow his opponent around the ring, and at times seemed to close the distance between he and Vitali.

As the rounds progressed, it appeared as if Vitali was landing to Arreola’s chin with 2-3 shots before Arreola could get close enough to even fire a shot. At the moment Arreola was successful in getting inside, Klitschko managed to hold until the referee broke the two of them apart.

By the 8th round, Arreola had been chasing Vitali the entire match, and was beginning to show heavy fatigue, thus leaving himself open for heavy punishment. Arreola did not help his case throughout due to his refusal to create angles for Vitali, or at least move his head to avoid punishment, although he at least kept his gloves up, which did not appear to be a very effective defensive method. By this point, it was clear that he had very little power left in his punches as well. With Vitali landing at will, and with his face a bloodied mess, both Arreola’s corner, and the referee called an end to the match at the end of the 10th round.

In the end, Arreola was left a defeated man, as he fell into an emotional, tearful fit as he attempted to deal with the defeat. In his interview, he belted out his tears, and screamed to the audience, largely Hispanic and in his favor, that he would indeed be back.

In retrospect, any knowledgeable fight fan could not help but doubt Arreola’s focus. Not just in the sport, but in general. Not in doubting his talent, or heart, but just his desire to work for his dues. He took a shortcut in jumping the ranks of his competition, in taking on one of the two kings of the heavyweights, and just as many feared he would, he did not appear to take his conditioning seriously. In machismo fashion, he took the attitude of, “this is how I am, f*** it,” and appeared to party his way to fight night, as it showed in his grotesque 251 pound midsection. In the end, one could only wonder what kind of heavyweight Arreola could have been, had he stayed consistent with his work habits.

Vitali once again looked like a Greek god, and performed masterfully in the ring. At this point he appears to be searching for a closing to his great career, with no great challenge on the horizon, with the exception of his brother Wladimir.