Chris Arreola Looks to Rebound Against Manuel Quezada
Chris Arreola has gone from being pegged as “The Next Big Thing” in the heavyweight division to possibly having one last shot to turn his career around. Despite having a wealth of natural talent, the former National Golden Gloves champion has fallen short twice in big fights which could have turned his career around. His bout on August 13 against Manuel Quezada is for more than the WBC FECOMBOX heavyweight title – it’s a chance for both Arreola and Quezada to stay relevant and potential future title contenders.
Arreola (28-2, 25 KOs) has lost two of his last three fights after winning his first 26 professional bouts. A third loss would seriously cripple his chances at future heavyweight title glory. A victory won’t be easy as he’ll be taking on an opponent in Quezada (29-5, 18 KOs) in a similar desperate situation. The 32-year-old from Wasco, California had won 18 consecutive fights before being upset in a split decision loss to Jason Gavern in April.
However, all eyes will be on Arreola as he looks to get back on track for a second world title shot. His first bid for a world title ended in embarrassing fashion. He fought Vitali Klitschko for the WBC heavyweight title in September 2009 but came into the bout woefully out of shape, weighing in at 251 pounds. The extra weight hurt Arreola as he was continually beaten to the punch and outworked by Klitschko. Arreola landed just 86 punches in the fight compared to 301 for Klitschko.
Arreola’s corner stopped the fight in the 10th round but the most humiliating part of the fight came immediately after the bout, as Arreola broke down and was openly weeping in the centre of the ring. His lack of conditioning combined with his open display of emotion earned him a reputation of being soft that has dogged him for the rest of his career.
After stopping Brian Minto in the fourth round of their bout three months later, Arreola squared off against Tomasz Adamek in an IBF title eliminator. Arreola was expected to win the fight against the former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion mainly because of his significant size advantage (three inches and around 35 pounds). However, Arreola’s size wound up working against him as the quicker and more aggressive Adamek was able to withstand some big shots from Arreola and earn a unanimous decision victory which served as another major step back in Arreola’s career.
Arreola recently admitted that he “cut corners” in his preparations for the bout against Adamek. It’s a recurring habit in his career as he’s been known to miss training sessions ahead of big fights. While he’s said that he’s learned his lessons and is not going to repeat the mistakes he made ahead of his fight with Adamek, he’s also repeating statements he made after losing to Klitschko.
Arreola and Quezada are no strangers to each other – they share management teams and have sparred against each other in the past. The bout has particular meaning to Quezada, who has wanted a bout against Arreola for some time and has felt that as a Mexican-American heavyweight based in California he has been fighting in Arreola’s shadow.
For Quezada, the bout represents a chance to step up in class and earn a signature victory that would elevate him from talented outsider to legitimate championship contender. Meanwhile, Arreola already has the name value thanks to repeated appearances on HBO and PPV cards. A victory over Quezada – especially in impressive fashion – would help to restore his confidence and send a message to the rest of the division that he is ready to be focused and take one more shot at glory.
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