Former heavyweight title challenger Chris ?The Nightmare? Arreola (34-2 with 29 KO?s) will be taking on Eric Molina (18-1-1 with 14 KO?s) this Saturday in Corpus Christi, Texas as he resumes his career and works towards landing a second title shot. Before losing in dominant fashion to current WBC Heavyweight Champion Vitali Klitschko (43-2 with 40 KO?s), Arreola was a red hot American prospect tearing through one challenger after another. He was our brown hope if you will. Fraught with confidence and a few too many enchiladas, the corpulent Arreola entered the Klitschko fight determined to bring the heavyweight crown back to the United States. Unfortunately for Chis, Vitali had other plans. At a soft 251 pounds to Klitschko?s solid 252, Arreola was completely ineffective against the perennially conditioned Ukrainian great and was so thoroughly dominated and disappointed by his performance that he broke out in tears during the post fight interview with Larry Merchant.
Following his loss to Klitschko, Arreola rebounded with a TKO victory over Brian Minto weighing a career high 263 lbs before losing a close decision to former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek (44-2 with 28 KO?s), who himself went on to be dominated by the older Klitschko brother. After two rebound wins over non- descript opposition, Arreola made a very wise decision to put the fork down and to focus on conditioning his body in order to maximize his talent and to give himself the best chance of being successful at the very top level. The results have been very positive as the noticeably slimmer Mexican American has looked much more agile in the ring and seems to be a new man.
Chris is 6-0 with 4 KO?s since the Adamek defeat albeit versus fairly non- descript opposition. His opponent on Saturday is a slight step up from his recent opponents and has only lost one fight which was his pro debut. Molina?s one and only loss came via knockout, so of course his chin is going to be in question against the heavy handed native Angelino. Molina possesses a fairly high knockout ratio himself, and these are heavyweights, so anything can happen. Upon watching a training video, this author is confident that the 6?4″ 235 pound Arreola is not taking the 6?5″ 230 pound Molina lightly which is bad news for the Texan. If Molina is dreaming of facing a slow, rotund and unfocused Arreola that dream will surely become a nightmare.
Chris is by no means a svelte, rock hard Adonis like specimen (and never will be), but relative to his former physique, he is looking much slimmer. I expect the 30 year old Southern California native Arreola to try hard not to leave this fight in the hands of the judges in his 29 year old opponent?s home state. He will soften up Molina with one two?s and an occasional left hook to the head and body before stopping him via TKO. This fight should be over inside of 8 rounds, but if Molina proves game and kicks into survival mode, he will take a 12 round beating.
