Chris Arreola: Turn the Extra Helpings at the Table Down
By Idris “Drees” Newton
What’s wrong with the heavyweight division as a whole? Not enough really serious boxers. Just look at them, out of shape, under conditioned, unable to perform at top capacity because of these flabby/floppy couch potato-esque physiques. It’s absolutely disgraceful, for example let’s focus in on a fighter with a known history of “fatness”.
Cristobal “The Nightmare” Arreola, the perennial contender, as is the case with most of the Americans in the heavyweight division- he is the victim of under commitment to his craft. Sure he is an all action, slugger who’ll surely give your money’s worth every round. Sure if you pit him against guys like Brian Minto (Ex Football player turned boxing beat down taker) Arreola will show you that he has killer instinct and the punching power to knock the living day lights out of anybody. But what happened when he had to give us those things against top competition? Why, he lost of course and badly. OOOOOH was it bad; Chris took the worst pummeling I’ve ever seen seriously it was hard to watch. As the watcher you could feel the punches. Granted it was against one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. Yes, I said “OF ALL TIME”, because he is, skill and implementation wise at the very least he is the best right now (Sorry Wlad).
Enough rambling! “The Daydream” took all those aforementioned attributes into the ring with him hoping to reach his dreams of becoming a champion, but as with all other American contenders like Calvin Brock, Tony Thompson or Lamon Brewster. As with most heavyweights who decided to ride a wave of power punches to the top of the hill thinking that’s all they needed to topple either Klitschko brother, when they get in that ring as Cristobal did, they learn that it just isn’t enough to not back down and throw power punches. You have to do the work before you get in that ring, you absolutely must be in tip top shape when you fight a Klitschko or an Adamek or a Haye for that matter. This is a prerequisite when you reach the top of the Heavyweight Mountain.
This is the proverbial arrow in every American heavyweight’s heel, none of them are in the kind of shape required to get maximum results out of themselves. Calvin Brock was a big man with power and a jab something of a throwback to Lennox Lewis, but he was also soft and sugary in the middle, not hard and ready for a real battle like “The Lion”. Hasim Rahman had power, and was a solid puncher, one of the very few to beat Lennox Lewis (Lennox knocked out Rahman in the rematch), but again he was not in tip top shape which led him astray once he arrived at the precipice.
It’s always the same old Shtick; American heavyweight gets backing and notoriety for no other reason than he is an American. American heavy wins a few fights by knockout showing he has power and the ability to please the crowd and maybe even casual boxing fans. So of course he must be the next Mike Tyson/Evander Holyfield and we should all pay attention to him, because he could be the next world champ, our last American hope. So American heavy gets on wins bout to became mandatory for Vitali or Wladimir and talks about how he will dethrone and how he will show and how he will be different and how neither brother has seen anything like him before. Not the case of course. In the end, its Chernobyl all over again, a disaster, said American contender lain asunder and being tended to by the ring doctor and fight team assessing the damage.
This eventuality of this scenario coming to fruition was Cristobal “The Nightmare” Arreola, he was touted, he was applauded, he was sought after, he was crowd pleasing, he was indeed a night mare, and he was also criticized for being a butterball. It was popular belief that, despite his Ms. Piggy exterior that his “power”, relentlessness and toughness would if nothing else make a fight with “Dr Iron Fist” competitive. The Boxing world most certainly could not have fathomed what turned out to be the most one sided fight of the year. In a self berating pitiful display, Arreola began balling (Not the kind where money is thrown in the air, but the crying uncontrollably kind); I’ll assume he was embarrassed, sadly not enough to get in shape.
“The Nightmare” entered his next fight sporting that same old Buddha belly (wow, now that I think about it he does have a whole “Buddha” look going on) against Tomasz Adamek.
Ineluctably Arreola’s body and its penchant for being sloth like in nature did him an injustice in a fight he should have won, but he predictably could not keep up with the faster “Goral” who was only in his 3rd fight after moving to Heavyweight. With Adamek’s relative inexperience in the weight class and Arreola’s power it should have been a win but Arreola couldn’t capitalize on a regular enough basis to take command of the closely contested fight.
Again, just as he did in the Klitschko fight he started fast and with a purpose. He was trying to take his opponent’s head off, but as the fight went on and Adamek moved around while sustaining a potent attack Chris became sluggish and injured his hand on the crown of Goral’s head. From then on he was a sitting duck, more than usual, Not only was his head and body easy to find, there were no punches to keep “Goral” from scoring with big combinations late in the fight. In the end “The Nightmare” stated “He kicked my ass.” Yeah, that explains that sanguinely smile that has come to be a familiar fixture at the post-fight interview.
Soon we see Chris “The Nightmare” back at it again, hopefully he will have taken heed to the signs that have been made clear to him in his last two bouts. Hopefully he will realize that unlike in the pool buoyancy will not help him rise to the top of the division and most assuredly won’t help him stay there. The undisputed “Two Headed Klitschko Monster” is just too strong, too dedicated, too well prepared and most of all too good. Check that, Too Great. So to even have a chance you must at least prepare as well or better than both of them.
Will Joey Abell get what could feasibly be a new and improved, truly in champion like shape Cristobal or will it be the same old, just good enough but strong enough to get the knockout, wild punching, no structure or defense or foot work, volume puncher we’ve always seen. The same guy that will disappoint us in the end, when given a title shot. I was definitely one of those who wanted you do be that American heavy that ultimately changed the Heavy weight landscape but you weren’t. Will you do what needs to be done, this time around? Will you fulfill your obligation to fight fans starved to emaciation for a true challenger in a division filled with tune up contenders? Will any Heavyweight decide that it is time to “step your game up” and became the next Mike, the next Evander, the Next, Lennox, even the Next Riddick?
The Most publicized and celebrated class in boxing will be the most booed and joke worthy for years to come if someone doesn’t provide a Heel for the Klitschko Heroes.