Saturday Night at the Staples center, American heavyweight Chris Arreola, 27-1 (24), met up with one of the best heavyweights in boxing today, Vitali Klitschko, 38-2 (37). The meeting didn’t go so well for Chris Arreola who, after taking a beating from the Ukrainian giant, was told by his corner that he would not be continuing the fight by his corner at the end of the tenth round. Trainer Henry Ramirez smartly stopped the onslaught that his fighter had been facing from the bigger and faster Klitschko, even as Arreola protested to his corner to let him continue. Arreola’s corner made the correct decision as Klitschko was teeing off on Arreola as he tried in vain to get on the inside. At that point, the judges had the fight scored 100-89 and 99-91 twice, so Arreola needed to score an knock-out to win, and that was not looking possible.
What happened next was pure emotion from a man who was told that he would not be allowed to finish the biggest fight of his career, at least the biggest fight so far in his career. Arreola got up from his stool, congratulated the victor Klitschko and then broke down near his corner. Arreola cried tears not of a man who was upset he didn’t get to continue, anger or selfishness, but tears of a man who had worked his whole career to make it to the pinnacle of the boxing world, the heavyweight championship, only to be turned away short of a championship. It was very evident that Arreola was not a match for Vitali Klitschko and probably would not be a match for Wladimir, but what Arreola proved with his heart on Saturday night won something different than a fight, he won respect of the boxing community and a ton of new fans. Most boxing fans, myself included, that watched on Saturday night expected an early round KO of Arreola and the end of him being touted as “The best American Heavyweight”.
What we got was proof that we may have been wrong about Chris Arreola. He proved that his heart was truly into capturing the title and being respected as a heavyweight contender. The tears showed me that this man not only sacrificed himself physically, but also emotionally, truly believing that he would walk out of that ring with a new title belt. Arreola really felt like he had let people down by not capturing that belt, saying ““I’m so sorry, I really wanted to be champion, I never wanted to quit.” to HBO’s Larry Merchant after the fight. Chris, this couldn’t be further from the truth. You actually opened more eyes on Saturday than you have in any other fight in your career.
Vitali Klitschko paid a compliment to Arreola in saying ““This was a hard fight, like I expected, he’s a tough fighter. I know I was hurting him a lot but he has a great, great chin”. This was coming from a fighter with a 92% knock-out ratio. Arreola may have left everything he had in the ring on Saturday, but he didn’t leave everything he has left in his career. Like Arreola said, it is not the end of him, he will be back. If the emotion, toughness and heart he showed comes with him, everyone in the heavyweight division needs to take heed of him. I have no doubt Chris Arreola will be back, fighting at the top of the division and someday will be a heavyweight champion. The difference this time? He will have me, and a lot more fans he won on Saturday night, cheering him to a title. So maybe there is some semblance of winning in losing.
For more on this fight, listen to Bob Carroll, Butch and "THE Big Dog" Benny Henderson Jr. every Wednesday night on Fightin' Words Radio Show from 8-9pm EST. To listen live via the internet, go to http://1490wwpr.com and look for the "listen here" tab.
