By Allan Fox: The manager for #1 WBC Bermane Stiverne (23-1-1, 20 KO’s) is reportedly pushing to have the February 15th fight between Stiverne and #2 WBC Chris Arreola (36-3, 31 KO’s) take place in Canada or New York for their bout for the vacant WBC heavyweight title, according to the LA Times. However, Arreola’s manager Dan Goosen wants the fight to take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, where Arreola has a large following of fans.
It’s important for Arreola to have the fight staged in an arena where he has a large following because he’s the type of fighter who is at his best when he’s being cheered on. Arreola took a beating in his fight against Stiverne earlier this year in losing by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision. Arreola was knocked down in the 3rd round and suffered a broken nose in the fight.
LA Times writer Lance Pugmire said “Stiverne manager wants Chris Arreola fight in Montreal, NY or Toronto, but Dan Goossen wants it Feb. 15 at the STAPLES Center.”
Vitali Klitschko vacated his belt last week and made it available for the top contenders in the division to fight over it. The World Boxing Council quickly determined that the #1 WBC Stiverne and #2 WBC Arreola should be the ones that fight for the vacant WBC title. The WBC also plans on ordering two additional fights to determine two mandatory challengers for the winner of the Stiverne-Arreola to fight. Why they would need to have 2 mandatory challengers determined instead of just one is hard to understand. But it must be something that helps the WBC’s bottom line in some way, because otherwise it’s pointless.
Arreola is going to need to use more finesse against Stiverne in the rematch because he took a lot of punishment by him last April, and he wasn’t able to overpower him the way that he had his previous opposition. The 6’2″ Stiverne is a well-schooled fighter, with a longer reach and a better jab than Arreola. He’s capable of boxing and slugging with his opponents. Arreola will need to get in quick and land shots and then move away to avoid Stiverne’s big punches. That’s probably the best way for Arreola to win this fight. It’s going to be difficult because he was dominated in every department by Stiverne, and not much will have changed by the time they fight each other in February.
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