Tag Archives: Chris Arreola

Posted on 01/14/2022

By: Hans Themistode

They aren’t deafening in their criticism but Chris Arreola can hear his doubters loud and clear.

Despite being at the ripe old age of 40 and riding a two-fight losing streak, Arreola believes he still has plenty to offer the boxing world.

“Mother f*ckers out there are hating and shit,” said Arreola during an interview with ESNEWS. “Calling me old and shit.”

In 2016, following an eighth-round stoppage defeat at the hands of Deontay Wilder, Arreola spent the next two and a half years on the sidelines. Once he made his return at the tail end of 2018, the heavyweight contender reeled off two consecutive victories. With momentum firmly on his side, Arreola attempted to halt the heavyweight hype train of Adam Kownacki.

Yet, despite Arreola throwing 1,125 punches, a record for a heavyweight bout, he suffered a wide unanimous decision defeat. Although it wasn’t the result he was ultimately looking for, Arreola returned to the ring earlier this year against Andy Ruiz Jr.

Heading into their mid 2021 heavyweight clash, Arreola stated on numerous occasions that if he was unsuccessful in his attempt to defeat the former unified titlist, he would officially hang up his gloves for good.

Pegged as a sizable underdog, Arreola appeared to be on his way to scoring the monumental upset. In the opening frame, the California native landed a flush 1-2 combination. As a result, Ruiz Jr. hit the deck.

Nevertheless, despite his early success, Ruiz Jr. rallied back to pull out the victory. While Arreola believed his time in the sport of boxing had subsequently expired, the soon-to-be 41-year-old has a change of heart.

More than anything, Arreola still dreams of wrapping heavyweight gold around his waist. As the fringe contender thinks to himself, he fondly remembers the date November 5th, 1994. On the night, 45-year-old Hall of Famer George Foreman regained his heavyweight crown, scoring a tenth-round stoppage victory over Michael Moorer.

As Arreola continues to reminisce, his self-belief only grows as he believes that his heavyweight title dreams are far from over.

“I still got four or five more years left, until 45 like George Foreman. He won the title at 45 so I still got time.”

Posted on 04/24/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Chris Arreola has sat back and listened as boxing fans are already playing matchmakers. In the mind of many, fantasy showdowns involving former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. and several of the top names in the division are on the verge of taking place.

Standing in the way of those fantasy matchups is long-time contender Chris Arreola. The two are slated to face off in a FOX pay-per-view event on May 1st, at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Despite giving up the advantage in terms of youth, speed and championship status – Arreola is unafraid of what Ruiz has up his sleeves. In the mind of the veteran contender, what he brings to the table is something a bit unique.

“My biggest asset is my heart and my balls,” said Arreola during an interview with Premier Boxing Champions. “I don’t back up from no one, I come and fight and just give it my all. I just bite on that f*cking mouthpiece and keep coming. That’s what I bring to the table.”

For Ruiz, his return to the ring has been a long and difficult road. In June of 2019, the Mexican native upset the odds in not only defeating Anthony Joshua but ultimately stopping him in the seventh round of their contest. With the win, Ruiz became the first Mexican fighter to win a world title.

The victory turned Ruiz into a celebrity overnight. He quickly made the rounds on television talk shows and became a regular in the party scene. While he had every right to enjoy his victory, Ruiz admitted that he took things a bit too far.

“I think I ate everything,” said Ruiz during an interview several months ago with TMZ Sports. “That’s why I gained so much weight. Just being with my friends and just celebrating, drinking a few more Coronas than I should have.”

Coming into their rematch six months later, Ruiz appeared grotesquely overweight, tipping the scale at 284 pounds. His inability to stop partying and dedicate his time to the gym cost him as Joshua easily outpointed him to win back his world titles.

Since then, Ruiz rededicated his life to boxing, teaming up with famed trainer Eddy Reynoso, head man of pound-for-pound star, Canelo Alvarez.

Recently, Ruiz has been seen sporting a much more trimmer look. But while Arreola tips his cap to his opponent for getting in much better shape, he believes all of his hard work will ultimately be in vain.

“I see myself winning this fight. I just been working hard, there’s no shortcuts just hard work. In order to beat me you really, really, really gotta beat the shit out of me.”

Posted on 04/07/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Chris Arreola admits that he was proud as he watched Andy Ruiz Jr. become the first fighter of Mexican descent to win a heavyweight world title. The aforementioned Ruiz Jr. took down the heavily favored Anthony Joshua in their June showdown in 2019.

Following the win, the fame and notoriety went straight to the head of Ruiz Jr. The newly crowned champ spent most of his time making the rounds on television talk shows and guzzling drinks as opposed to working hard in the gym to protract his title reign. Ruiz Jr.’s lack of preparation led to a one-sided defeat in the rematch with Joshua six months later.

Since then, the Mexican star has worked closely with Eddy Reynoso, head trainer of pound-for-pound star Canelo Alvarez. By all accounts, he plans on putting on a show when he takes on Arreola on May 1st at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Although Arreola respects what Ruiz Jr. has been able to accomplish, when it’s all said and done, he wants the boxing world to know that the best Mexican heavyweight isn’t Ruiz Jr.

“He’s motivated to knock my block off but I’m motivated too,” said Arreola during a recent virtual press conference. “I want to win. He may have been the first Mexican heavyweight champion but the best Mexican is right here.”

For Arreola, the long-time contender has sat on the sidelines since August of 2019. After a close but failed attempt to slow down the hype train of Adam Kownacki, Arreola contemplated retirement. However, after giving himself more time to think, Arreola believes he still has plenty left in the tank.

With back and forth wars against the likes of Deontay Wilder, Bermane Stiverne, and of course, Kownacki – Arreola simply wants fans to tune into his FOX PBC pay-per-view event to see another contest that is sure to be crowd-pleasing.

“People that know me and have watched me fight, know I try not to be in a boring fight at all. I come to leave it all in the f*cking ring.”

Posted on 03/01/2021

By: Hans Themistode

We all knew it was going to happen, we just didn’t know when. That is, until now.

Former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. will return to the ring on April 24th when he takes on fringe contender Chris Arreola.

No specific site has been revealed just yet, but their bout will be a Fox Sports Pay-Per-View.

It’s been a long time since anyone has seen Ruiz Jr. (33-2, 22 KOs) in the ring, one year and a half to be exact.

For a six-month stretch, Ruiz Jr. was on top of the world. His massive upset win over Anthony Joshua crowned him as the first heavyweight champion from Mexico. His enthusiasm for what he accomplished was taken a bit overboard as he spent most of his time partying like there was no tomorrow.

While it was fun at the moment, it caused him to slack in his preparation for their rematch six months later. During the night in question, Ruiz Jr. was thoroughly outboxed and his 15 minutes of fame were officially over.

His championship reign may have been truncated, but it was long enough for Ruiz Jr. to realize that he wanted a taste of it again. To help him in his efforts, he ended his relationship with former trainer Manny Robles and began working closely with Eddy Reynoso, trainer of pound-for-pound star, Canelo Alvarez.

By all accounts, their relationship seems to be going great as Reynoso revealed that Ruiz Jr. has lost 20 pounds since they began working with one another.

As for Arreola (38-6-1, 33 KOs), he’s spent a long amount of time on the sidelines as well. In his last ring appearance, the Los Angelos native almost pulled off an upset of his own against Adam Kownacki. Unfortunately for him however, he fell just short.

Following the loss, the now 39-year-old sat back and seriously considered retirement. Yet, with a chance to pick up a big win and an even bigger check against Ruiz Jr., this was an opportunity Arreola simply couldn’t say no to.

Posted on 08/14/2020

By: Hans Themistode

Andy Ruiz Jr. is ready to show that he isn’t some one hit wonder. 

As first reported by Mike Coppinger of The Athletic, the former heavyweight champion has agreed to a matchup with former title challenger Chris Arreola that will take place on the back end of 2020. 

With the 39 year old Arreola (38-6-1, 33 KOs) putting on one of his best performances in his last ring appearance against Adam Kownacki, the California native pondered retirement if he didn’t get the job done on the night. Yet, after 12 fairly competitive rounds in which Arreola had thrown a record setting 1,125 punches, he backed off his retirement claims. 

Despite his previous showing though, much of the boxing world will be fixated on the comeback story of the man standing across the ring from him on the night.

Ruiz Jr. (33-2, 22 KOs) found himself on the table of unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua as a sacrificial lamb. The two matched up in June of 2019 and not much was expected of him. 

Come in, get paid, get your ass kicked and leave. And in that order. Ruiz Jr. however, didn’t read the memo. 

The upset of Joshua has been well chronicled. Ruiz Jr. picked himself up off the mat in the early going, only to drop his man on four separate occasions to become the first Mexican heavyweight world champion. 

Those newly found gold belts did not serve as motivation though. They were simply used as beer holders as Ruiz Jr. spent most of the following six months partying like there was no tomorrow. But while the new heavyweight champion was busy making appearances on the Jimmy Kimmel show and signing countless autographs, the old belt holder was hard at work readying himself for their rematch. 

The difference in preparation showed as Ruiz Jr. was thoroughly dominated over 12 rounds. 

“I think I didn’t prepare as I should’ve,” said Ruiz Jr. immediately following their rematch. “I gained too much weight. Basically I tried to train myself, but if we do the third fight best believe I’m going to be in the best shape of my life.”

The promises of the former heavyweight champion doesn’t appear to be hollow as he has decided to work with trainer of the year and head man of current four division star Canelo Alvarez. 

With the world there to witness his rise to the top of the mountain and his unceremonious fall from it, Ruiz Jr. will begin his journey to prove that he isn’t some flash in the pan fighter. 

Posted on 03/13/2015

By Eric Duran

Al Haymon’s PBC Boxing on Spike TV has made a few minor moves regarding their debut boxing card tonight.

Andre Berto (29-3, 22 KOs) will still face Josesito Lopez (33-6, 19 KOs) in the main event live from the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, CA. However, the Shawn Porter-Roberto Garcia co-main event has been scratched from televised portion of the broadcast when Garcia failed to attend the weigh-ins.

With that being said, heavyweight Chris Arreola (35-4, 31 KOs) of Los Angeles, CA, has officially been bumped up to the co- main event on PBC’s Spike TV debut.

Arreola, who was stopped last time out in a WBC heavyweight world title bout by now ex-champ Bermane Stiverne, is scheduled to face unheralded Curtis Harper (12-3, 8 KOs) of Jacksonville, FL.

Arreola is a fan favorite who has held every version of the WBC belt except the one that counts, losing on two occasions to now-retired great Vitali Klitschko and Stiverne. Arreola fights with a passion that most Mexican greats have before him, willing to lose on his shield instead of on the cards. But he also battles with his waistline, and has come in at a hefty 262 pounds for this bout, his heaviest weight since 2009.

Harper is in no way a soft opponent. Two of his three losses have come at the hands of heavyweight prospects. He went the distance with once beaten prospect, Donovan Dennis. Before the Dennis bout, he was stopped in five rounds by the undefeated, Gerald Washington.

Harper is currently riding a five-fight winning streak. The streak includes a win over 15-0 at the time, Joshua Tufte.

Arreola vs Harper will be contested over 10 rounds.

With Garcia no-showing the weigh-in, Porter (24-1-1, 15 KOs) will now face Erick Bone of Ecuador.

Porter is coming off a loss to Kell Brook in August. Brook defeated Porter for his IBF Welterweight title by Majority decision. Porter was hoping a good showing on regular cable television would propel him back into the title picture, after he was made to look one-dimensional by the rising British star Brook.

Bone (16-1, 8 KOs), 26, name may not be a recognizable name, but this isn’t the first time he’s fought inside the United States. He currently riding a four-fight winning streak, 3-0 inside the US. One of those wins was against former prospect, Francisco Figueroa, stopping the New York native in five rounds. Two of his last three bouts have been promoted by Lou Dibella.

Bone’s only loss came at the hands of Alberto Mosquera (22-2, KO’s) by spilt decision for the WBC Latino Jr. Welterweight title. If Mosquera’s name rings a bell, it’s because he was a victim of rising contender, Sammy Vasquez Jr.