Chris Arreola
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Chris Arreola | |
 |
|
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Chris Arreola |
| Nickname(s) | "The Nightmare" |
| Rated at | Heavyweight |
| Nationality | American |
| Birth date | March 5, 1981 |
| Birth place | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 23 |
| Wins | 23 |
| Wins by KO | 21 |
| Losses | 0 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Chris Arreola (b. March 5, 1981 in Los Angeles as Cristobal Arreola) is a US Mexican-American heavyweight boxer widely regarded as one of the best American prospects in the division.
[edit] Amateur career
Arreola grew up in East LA, his father was a boxer and he started boxing at the age of 8 and at 16 had "about 200 amateur bouts"(Max boxing) before losing interest and quitting. At 20 he got back into boxing and after only three months of training managed to win the National Golden Gloves in 2001 as a light-heavyweight against Dallas Vargas who had about 300 amateur fights at that time.
After another hiatus from boxing, this time for two years, he tried to come back for the 2003 Golden Gloves but arrived shortly after the check-in deadline prompting him to turn pro.
[edit] Pro
In 2003 the Goossen Tutor promoted tatooed 6-foot-4 fighter turned pro at heavyweight with little fanfare. His nickname is "Nightmare". Despite his amateur success Arreola carried a lackadaisical attitude into the pro ranks. Looking back he says: “I really didn’t know if boxing was going to be my career. I wasn’t sure about turning pro and once I did, I just took it one fight at a time. But then I starting knocking guys out and I gradually started thinking, ‘Hey, maybe I can make some money doing this’.”
At first the offensive-minded Arreola only beat weak opposition but got good sparring in California against Wladimir Klitschko, Hasim Rahman and James Toney. He now resides in Riverside CA.
In 2005 he stepped it up against Domonic Jenkins who despite his record of only 6-3 held a win over Malcolm Tann (and later KOd amateur stars Victor Bisbal and Carlos Barnett). After trailing for six rounds he turned the fight around and won by KO.
Since then he got his weight under better control, he dropped from a whopping 255 lbs gradually down to 230 lbs.
In 2006 he stopped durable clubfighter Sedreck Fields, Cuban southpaw Damian Norris (who later defeated the unbeaten Roderick Willis) and in a match of unbeaten Californian prospects Damian Wills (coming in at 21-0-1).
In 2007 he KOd former amateur star Zakeem Graham (10-1, only loss was to Ruslan Chagaev). He was scheduled to fight undefeated Olympian Devin Vargas , brother of his amateur foe Dallas Vargas, but knocked out late sub Malcolm Tann when Vargas got injured in training, in May of 2007 on ShoBox. In 2007 he was shortly listed at Top 10 by the Ring Magazine, in the computer ratings he is rated much lower at around #30 (IWBR ratings). He KOd Thomas Hayes (record 26-1) in September 2007 and is scheduled to fight fellow prospect Chazz Witherspoon.
His coach Henry Ramirez is only 31 years old. “I had other trainers but they didn’t fit my style. I’m a banger,” said Arreola remembering that day. “Henry was always giving guys confidence and I liked that.”
