Deontay Wilder vs. Chris Arreola on July 16

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Chris Arreola on July 16

By Eric Baldwin: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (36-0, 35 KOs) will reportedly be defending his title against 35-year-old former two-time world title challenger Chris Arreola (36-4-1, 31 KOs) on July 16 at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.

This news isn’t going to make many boxing fans happy, because Arreola has won only one fight in the last three years of his career. Arreola’s record since 2013 is 1-1-1 with 1 fight scored as a no contest. That’s not good when you’re considering that Arreola is being given a world title shot.

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Arreola on shortlist of opponents for Wilder

Image: Arreola on shortlist of opponents for Wilder

By Scott Gilfoid: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder could be facing the capable of Chris Arreola next on July 16 or in August, according to Dan Rafael. This would be a fine choice for Deontay in a voluntary defense to keep him busy while he waits for World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman to decide what he’s going to do with the positive drug tested Alexander Povetkin.

Wilder had his scheduled fight against Povetkin postponed after the Russian tested positive for meldonium a week and a half before their fight on May 21. The fight was then postponed courtesy of the WBC. Sulaiman said Wilder could take an optional defense but he wants him to do it soon; hence he’s in a rush to get a suitable opponent for July or August.

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Wilder vs. Arreola – make proper fights please!

Chris Arreola

By Scott Bells: It was reported yesterday that Deontay Wilder is lining up Chris Arreola for his voluntary defence mid-Summer. I hope for the sake of boxing that this isn’t the case. I have read writers (particularly one on this site) bashing fighters for being matched up softly recently but this fight would really take the crown.

Chris Arreola was considered a decent heavyweight in 2009-2012 after he fought Vitali Klitschko but was soundly beaten. A subsequent loss to Pole Tomasz Adamek showed that he did not quite have what it took to be operating at world level (Adamek was a world class cruiserweight but not considered world class at heavyweight).

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Deontay Wilder vs. Chris Arreola possible for summer

arreola45

By Jeff Aranow: 35-year-old former two-time world title challenger Chris Arreola (36-4-1, 31 KOs) is the fighter that is being talked about as WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder’s opponent for his next fight in July, according to a source from the LA Times.

Wilder was given another voluntary defense by the World Boxing Council after his previous opponent Alexander Povetkin tested positive for the banned substance Meldonium. Wilder was supposed to fight Povetkin on May 21 in Moscow, Russia.

Wilder wants Arreola as his opponent, according to the LA Times. Arreola isn’t ranked in the top 15 by any of the four sanctioning bodies at this time. However, the WBC will likely give Arreola a quick top 15 ranking as soon as Wilder’s promoter Lou Dibella makes it official.

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Chris Arreola fails drug test after December fight, suspended now

Image: Chris Arreola fails drug test after December fight, suspended nowBy Dan Ambrose: Former two time world title challenger Chris Arreola (36-4-1, 31 KOs) has reportedly failed a drug test from his last fight on December 12th against Travis Kauffman at the AT & T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Arreola’s narrow win over Kauffman has been changed to a no contest. Arreola is now suspended. Just how long the suspension will be is unclear.

This is a big blow for Arreola’s career, because things have been going badly for him since 2013. Arreola was beaten by Bermane Stiverne in that year by a 12 round decision. In 2014, Arreola made the mistake of facing Stiverne in a rematch for the vacant WBC heavyweight title, and he was stopped in the sixth round.

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Figueroa decisions DeMarco; Arreola defeats Kauffman – results

Image: Figueroa decisions DeMarco; Arreola defeats Kauffman - results(Photo credit: Suzanne Teresa/Premier Boxing Champions) By Dan Ambrose: A heavy looking former WBC lightweight champion Omar Figueroa (26-0-1, 18 KOs) outworked former WBC 135lb champion Antonio DeMarco (36-6-1, 23 KOs) in beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision to keep his unbeaten record alive on Saturday night on Premier Boxing Champions on NBC from the AT&T Center, in San Antonio, Texas, USA. The final judges’ scores were 116-112, 116-112 and 115-112.

Figueroa threw 1092 punches and landed 414 of them. However, DeMarco landed the harder and cleaner landing shots, and he dominated the last three rounds with his big power shots.

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Weights: Figueroa-DeMarco & Arreola-Kauffman

Image: Weights: Figueroa-DeMarco & Arreola-Kauffman(Photo credit: Suzanne Teresa/Premier Boxing Champions) By Dan Ambrose: Light welterweights Omar Figueroa Jr. (25-0-1, 18 KOs) and Antonio DeMarco (31-5-1, 23 KOs) both came in well over the 140lb limit during Friday’s weigh-in for their fight on Saturday night on Premier Boxing Champions on NBC from the AT&T Center, in San Antonio, Texas.

Figueroa weighed in a whopping 151lbs, which puts him 11 pounds over the light welterweight limit. DeMarco wasn’t much better in coming in at 149lbs. For the 25-year-old Figueroa, this is his second straight fight that he’s coming in over the 140lb limit.

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What we learned last weekend

arreola45By Gav Duthie: A very interesting weekend of boxing has been and gone with various ramifications arising for future fights across the divisions. We witnessed top level action from Germany, the UK And the US and after catching up with it all this is what I have surmised.

Crolla is one unlucky guy

For most fans after Saturday night Anthony Crolla is a champion without the belt. For anyone who believes in Karma they may have to re-think after Crolla a local hero was once again robbed of his chance to realize a dream.

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Arreola takes on Kassi today for possible Deontay Wilder title shot

Arreola and KassiBy Dan Ambrose: If there was ever a time where Chris Arreola (36-4, 31 KOs) needs to put in one of his better performances it’s tonight in his 10 round fight against 35-year-old Fred Kassi (18-3, 10 KOs) at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.

If the 34-year-old Arreola wins, he could wind up fighting for a world title against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder on September 26th. Arreola recently came up empty last year in a 6th round stoppage loss to Bermane Stiverne, but against Wilder, Arreola would have a better chance of winning.

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Weights: Frampton 121.6, Gonzalez Jr. 121.4; Arreola 246.8, Kassi 225

Arreola and Kassi(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) By Scott Gilfoid: IBF super bantamweight champion Carl Frampton (20-0, 14 KOs) made weight on Friday in coming in at 121.6 pounds for his title defense against #13 IBF Alejandro “Cobrita” Gonzalez Jr. (25-1-2, 15 KOs) for their fight on Saturday on Premier Boxing Champions on CBS from the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas. The 22-year-old Gonzalez Jr. weighed in at 121.4lbs, and looked in good shape for the fight.

Frampton is heavily favored to beat the stuffing out of Gonzalez Jr., and I can’t see there being any chance at all of an upset.

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