Arreola facing Kassi for possible Deontay Wilder fight

By Boxing News - 07/16/2015 - Comments

Chris Arreola(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) By Dan Ambrose: Chris Arreola (36-4, 31 KOs) has a potential fight against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (34-0, 33 KOs) up for grabs if Arreola can beat his opponent for Saturday, Fred Kassi (18-3, 10 KOs) in their 10 round bout on Premier Boxing Champions on CBS at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.

It’s been a year since the last time Arreola failed in a world title shot chance in losing to Bermane Stiverne by a 6th round knockout. Arreola, 34, has failed twice in world title bids, and he believes if he fails to win a world title against Wilder, he’ll give up on the idea and retire.

Arreola is ranked at #12 WBC, so there’s no given that he’ll get the fight against Wilder even if he beats Kassi. However, there’s talk that he’ll be the one that will be facing Wilder next on September 26th on NBC, as long as he gets past Kassi.

“My weight is what it is, this is me. I may not have the six-pack, but I will have the punch to knock somebody out. I am committed to boxing,” Arreola said via fightnews.com. “I love boxing, and this training camp has been good for me. I would be a fool to say that it doesn’t cross my mind to fight again for the title.”

Beating Kassi could give Arreola his best chance of winning a world title. Wilder looks vulnerable, and it’s a better match-up for Arreola than his previous fights against Bermane Stiverne. Arreola matches up with Wilder much better because he doesn’t have the chin and the left hook that Stiverne had.

Arreola couldn’t dent Stiverne’s chin, and he couldn’t handle his left hooks. But with Wilder, Arreola would have a decent chance of winning if he can get to him with one of his shots.

Wilder looked deathly afraid to throw his right hand in his last fight against Eric Molina. Wilder seemed to be afraid of being countered by Molina. If he fights the same way against Arreola, it could be an easy fight for Arreola because he’ll walk Wilder down and nail him with power shots he drops.

“The main thing is to give the fans a great show,” said Arreola. “I am going to go for that title. I’m working and grinding. Training camp has been going very well. I have been in camp for six weeks. The main thing about this fight is my boxing performance.”

The main thing for Arreola is not that he gives the fans a great show. The main thing is he beats Kassi and looks good doing so. If Arreola loses the fight, he can pretty much hang up the gloves on the spot because he’ll likely be dropped out of the top 15, and will be a 2nd tier fighter at that point. But Arreola needs to not only beat Kassi, but also look really good in doing so because he’s got to look sharp enough for Wilder’s adviser Al Haymon to want to take a chance in using him for a fight against Wilder.

“At the end of the day, Saturday is much more important than a title shot. I want my opponent out of that ring as soon as possible,” Arreola said.



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