Yesterday Liverpuncher.com sat down with Chris Arreola to see how his preparation was coming along for the upcoming fight with Vitali Klitschko on September 26. The boxing odds are against him, and so is the voting in the fantasy league. However From this reporters eyes, he appears to be in much better form than any of his other fights.
He knows this is a historically significant fight because if he were to win, he would be the first Heavyweight champion of Mexican decent. However it doesn’t seem to effect him mentally. He said, “To be honest with you, for me, it’s just another fight….I don’t want to get caught up with all this business about making history. Of course it’s history. It’s already known that it’s history.” Read on for more…
One of the big questions surrounding Arreola is his defense and his rotund frame – many have the impression that he simply isn’t in shape. To that he said “that’s because I’m fat, but this isn’t a body building contest.”
And how does he intend to get past Klistchko’s infamous jab? “I’m going to either be too far outside to be hit, or I’ll be in too close for him to use it” Not a bad idea, lets see if it works.
Arreola has been boxing since he was a kid. He had his first amateur bout at 8 years old and has been motivated to fight ever since.
He gives off a sense of entitlement when surrounded by a throng of media, but balances it well with humility. “I’ve worked my butt off to get here and I’ve always seen this day coming. The good thing about it is I’ve been working my way up slowly but surely.”
And if he were to win the fight you can be sure it would breathe some much needed life into the boxing world, but he says it wouldn’t change his personal life much. “I’ll stay in Riverside. But, I’ll probably get a bigger house. That’s about it. I love being in Riverside. Not to take away from LA, but I’m just so used to being around there. It’s a whole different atmosphere from here. People are more relaxed.”
Chris also wanted to dispel misinformation spread on other websites. “According to all the internet websites, I’m weighing upwards of 280 (pounds) or something like that. You know what; right now I weigh in the low 260’s. Come fight time, I’m probably going to be 200 pounds” (joking).
And if he were to win, what would be next? “Of course, I plan on unifying the titles. That should be the main goal of every fighter who wants to win the title. Of course, I want to be the undisputed heavyweight champion, but first things first, let’s go get the WBC title and then we’ll go after the rest of them.”
