By Jim Dower: Former heavyweight challenger Chris Arreola (30-2, 26 KO’s) destroyed a badly over-matched Joey Abell (27-5, 26 KO’s) in a 1st round TKO on Friday night at the Pechanga Resort in Temecula, California. Arreola, 29, was coming off of surgery on his right hand, badly hurt Abell right a huge right hand that had Abell staggering and out on his feet. Referee Tony Crebs then jumped and halted the mismatch at 2:18 of the 1st before Arreola could seriously hurt Abell.

Abell made the mistake of pulling back his head to avoid getting hit with Arreola’s powerful left hook. When Arreola was able to back Abell up against the ropes, Abell once again pulled his head. At that point, Arreola landed a huge overhand right that snapped Abell’s head back violently. Arreola then poured in a series of hard combinations that ended with a powerful right hand that had Abell doing the splits with his legs, teetering as if he was about to fall. The referee jumped in at that point to stop the fight before Arreola could finish him off. Arreola then took the opportunity to plant a kiss on the cheek of the still very hurt Abell.

This was an important win for Arreola, as he was beaten by Tomasz Adamek last year by a 12 round decision last April. Arreola needed this win in order to stay in the top 15 and stay within striking range of another title shot. It’s a good thing for Arreola that the fight was stopped quickly because he’s been plagued by hand problems in the past year.