SONAHR September 8, 2013 – Anticipation for the September 14 showdown between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez pretty well overshadowed the boxing events that occurred this past Saturday. That is to be expected, as Mayweather-Alvarez is the biggest matchup of the year. However, the result of the September 7 heavyweight contest between Chris Arreola and Seth Mitchell should not be ignored, even though Mayweather and Alvarez are the ones in the spotlight.
Arreola, who is nicknamed ?The Nightmare,? was looking to come back from a decision loss to unheralded Bermane Stiverne earlier this year. In that fight, Arreola was floored, and suffered a broken nose. He had previously been stopped by champion Vitali Klitschko in a WBC title bout and dropped a decision to the much-smaller Tomasz Adamek. Once considered a leading contender for the world heavyweight crown, Arreola?s portfolio on the sock exchange was tanking.
As recently as last year, Mitchell was considered one of the best hopes to restore lost glory to American heavyweight boxing. A second-round knockout defeat at the hands of Johnathon Banks dimmed those hopes considerably. Mitchell gained a measure of redemption by decisioning Banks in a rematch. His pugilistic portfolio was again on the rise.
Thus, Arreola-Mitchell was a classic crossroads contest. The winner would receive a vital boost in the ratings. The loser would suffer a possibly career-ending setback.
The outcome of the encounter was swift and brutal. Arreola stopped Mitchell at 2:26 of the first round. After being rocked in the early going, Mitchell rose from a knockdown, but could not withstand Arreola?s follow-up barrage. Arreola was, indeed, Mitchell?s ?Nightmare.?
Now, Arreola is back in the heavyweight mix ? thin gruel though it may be. He is not good enough to beat either Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko. But, if he can stay in shape, he can be a player in the sweepstakes that will ensue once the Ukrainian titans leave the scene. Already, the rumor mill is suggesting that Vitali, who holds the WBC version of the title, will retire after one more fight. And Arreola?s camp is talking up a rematch with Stiverne for the vacated title.
As for Mitchell ? usually when a hot prospect trips over a speed bump on his road to glory, he is advised to go back to the drawing board to revamp his game. But you can?t get a chin from a drawing board. Mitchell?s inability to withstand punishment will always be his downfall ? unless he develops the tools that would enable him to avoid such punishment, as Wladimir Klitschko did after suffering devastating knockout losses at the hands of Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster back in the day.
But Seth Mitchell is no Vladimir Klitschko. As it turned out on Saturday, he?s not even a Chris Arreola.
