Image details: Chris Arreola v Damian Wills served by picapp.com

My dad recently asked me “Why didn’t you write about the HBO heavyweight fight a few weeks ago? The one where the young kid Chris Arreola just tore that poor Philly boxer Chazz Witherspoon up. That kid was something else.”

Back in late June I was much more interested in the Showtime fights that aired at the same night: the Arthur Abraham – Edison Miranda rematch its co-feature the Raul Marquez – Giovanni Lorenzo upset. A few days later when I got around to watching the HBO fights — Arreola’s third round KO and Andre Berto’s domination of Miki Rodriguez — there was nothing left to say.

Since then everyone and their mother (my father was on the cutting edge) has fallen in love with young, round, and large Chris Arreola. During the July 2 Friday Night Fights ESPN2 ranked him as America’s 2nd best heavyweight behind Tony Thompson, after the Wladimir Klitschko fight the HBO team was rushing to place him in a major fight, and today Arreola pops up in Ring Magazine’s Top Ten Heavyweights.

Is he deserving or is he merely a young American heavyweight at a time when no others seem to exist? I’ve rewatched the Chazz Witherspoon fight a few times now and keep coming away more impressed with the 27-year-old from Riverside, Calif.

At first glance Arreola looks short, round, out of shape, and plodding. But once the bell rings you realize that all your assumptions are wrong. Boxrec.com lists his height at 6′4″, he moves around the ring with deceptive ease, his hands throw quick pounding combinations, he closes down on his opponent with pit bull-like aggression, and he finishes with palpable viciousness.

Image details: Carlos Baldomir v Floyd Mayweather Weigh-In served by picapp.com

Whether or not he’s more than a just an exciting brawler remains to be seen but he is certainly a much more interesting heavyweight viewing option than 35+ year-old American never-weres, boring technical Eastern European ex-amateur champs, and a circus freak.

So, yes, it’s great to see Arreola break into the heavyweight division’s top echelon. His refreshing style and crowd pleasing tendencies are a breath of fresh air. Are his technical skills good enough to compete against the elite? Has he been rushed to fill a void before his talent is properly realized?

The answer to both questions is probably yes. The current crop of heavyweights just aren’t that good. Whether Arreola could become the elusive great American heavyweight and the often-pined-for “savior of his beleaguered division” remains to be seen.

Nevertheless, he’s a lot better than what we’ve got and he already has a casual boxing fan like my dad talking.

What do you guys think? Is Arreola deserving of his rank? Could he become a linear World Champ?

Post from: EveryJoe

Chris Arreola – The Next Great American Heavyweight?

Image details: Wladimir Klitschko v Tony Thompson – IBF/IBO/WBO World Championship served by picapp.com

It took 11 slogging rounds but eventually Wladimir Klitschko decided that America’s top ranked heavyweight Tony “The Tiger” Thompson was his for the taking. In the eleventh Dr. Steelhammer upped his output and caught Thompson with a clean right which sent him down for a quick ten count from Joe Cortez.

The win brought Klitschko’s record to 51-3 with 45 of those victories coming by knockout. Thompson fell to 31-2 and will no longer hold the severely devalued mythical title of top American heavyweight. With his win Klitschko retains the IBF, IBO, and WBO championship belts.

For much of the fight The Tiger performed more like a tamed kitten preferring conservative-minded glancing body blows to any demonstrative action. Klitschko’s efforts were securely focused on finding a way through Thompson’s permanently raised gloves. To Wladmir’s credit many straight rights did shoot through steadily inflicting damage.

Both fighters were cut about their right eyes in the second: Wladimir by a Thompson left hook and The Tiger presumably by a head butt. Klitschko’s cut was swiftly tended to and was not reopened for the remainder of the battle primarily because Thompson rarely ventured shots to Wlad’s head. Thompson’s cut was reopened nearly every round by Klitschko’s steady barrage of rights.

Thompson’s frequent body punching while in the clinch made rounds four through six close but after that activity he seemed to shut his offensive attack down. Between rounds he promised his trainer that he had a plan. That plan never materialized.

Late in the tenth Wladimir stepped on Thompson’s toe and accidentally tackled the American into the ring corner. Thompson appeared dazed and hurt. At this point it was clear that his legs were shot and in the eleventh Klitschko took full advantage of his diminished opponent.

Image details: Wladimir Klitschko v Tony Thompson – IBF/IBO/WBO World Championship served by picapp.com

Post from: EveryJoe

Wladimir Klitschko KOs Top American Tony Thompson

Image details: Wladimir Klitschko v Tony Thompson Press Conference served by picapp.com

Tomorrow afternoon the consensus (if not undisputed) heavyweight champion of the world is facing the consensus top American heavyweight but for some reason the excitement level hasn’t reached fever pitch on these shores. The clinical, cautious and glass-jawed Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko has yet to capture the American imagination and highly unlikely that his American challenger Tony “The Tiger” Thompson ever will. Even if his beats the 6:1 odds and fells the Eastern European giant.

We at jabandgrapple.com will be glued to our TV set tomorrow a 4:30 p.m. and dialed into HBO hoping Doktor Steelhammer can make clean work of Thompson. We are big Klitschko fans; Mrs. Jabandgrapple has even claimed to have married Mr. Jabandgrapple because of his passing likeness to Wlad.

Regardless, Wlad Klitschko fights always set us on edge. Even though he has the belts, the trainer, the supreme talent, the knockout punch, the smarts, and the imposing presence it always feels as if out of nowhere his opponent is going to knock him out. We were devastated by the Corrie Sanders and the Lamon Brewster fights. How could our champ get knocked out by them?

But he did and in every subsequent bout we suppose it is going to happen again. When his many skills supersede the glass jaw curse then we breath a sigh of relief and are thankful our hero made it through.

This trepidation, of course, is not the way one should feel about their heavyweight champ. The champ should mow people down with his superiority and strength like Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, Rocky Marciano, Joe Louis and most other linear heavyweight champs.

The real question is will we be breathing a sigh of relief after tomorrow match with Tony Thompson? My feeling is yes but that won’t stop the worry. Not one bit.

Post from: EveryJoe

Holding Our Breath For Wladimir Klitschko