The Boxing Weekend: Chad Dawson & Chris Arreola See Action
By Geno McGahee
Friday
ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights
Ontario, California
Heavyweight contender, Chris “Nightmare” Arreola, 28-2, 25 KO’s, returns to the ring against Manuel Quezada, 29-5, 18 KO’s, in a ten round bout. Arreola was and is still a big attraction but sometimes, he comes into fights too big, ranging from 230 pounds to 263. Against mediocre opposition, his weight has not hurt him and may have helped him putting more power behind his punch, but against better opposition, he has been a step or two too slow to catch his opposition.
He had a shot at WBC Heavyweight Champion, Vitali Klitschko, but was unable to get to him and suffered a TKO defeat. After the fight, Arreola vowed to take the sport more seriously but he would come into his next big fight against Tomasz Adamek overweight and was too slow and lost a decision and took a beating along the way. In a recent interview, Arreola expressed his newfound interest in the sport and promises not to come into fights underprepared but we have heard this before.
The opponent is no pushover. Quezada was on an 18 fight winning streak before being upset by Jason Gavern in his last fight by split decision. Much of Quezada’s bouts have been against very limited opposition but when he took baby steps up, they were successful. He stopped the once highly rated Travis Walker in one round and has been in the top five of some of the sanctioning bodies before his defeat to Gavern. He desperately wants back and sees Arreola as his ticket.
Expect the main event to be a competitive scrap. Quezada has only been stopped on one occasion early in his career and has some skill. If Arreola does not come into the fight in fighting shape, he may have another loss on his career record.
Saturday
HBO
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
HBO presents “Bad” Chad Dawson, 29-0, 17 KO’s, continuing his career as he takes on the WBC Light Heavyweight Champion, Jean Pascal, 25-1, 16 KO’s, in a 12 round clash. Dawson has a great résumé, defeating Glen Johnson (twice), Antonio Tarver (twice) and Tomasz Adamek. He is a star in boxing and hopes to defeat Pascal and take the WBC title this Saturday night.
Pascal is a relative unknown in the states, but he has put together some impressive wins of his own, including two over Adrian Diaconu and also holds a victory over the tough Kingsley Ikeke. His one defeat was a decision loss to Carl Froch. Dawson is an active and athletic fighter that will test Pascal and is certainly the favorite going in. Pascal will have the home court advantage and we will have to see what role that plays in Saturday’s fight.