Vitali Klitschko's Nightmare Is America's Dream

Last weekend we welcomed the return of big-time boxing back into our lives, with a lopsided outcome of the main event of what was otherwise a highly entertaining night of boxing.  This weekend we’ll hail the rarest of occurrences: The return of big-time heavyweight boxing.  

Like last weekend, we have a situation where one man is heavily favored over the other, and there is a distinct possibility that this fight could also be a one-sided affair.  However, there is no chance, and I mean ABSOLUTELY NO CHANCE THAT THIS FIGHT GOES THE DISTANCE.

As I mentioned, the odds-makers and most experts see this fight as a potential wipeout.  Vitali Klitschko is the heavyweight champion and Cristobal Arreola is most definitely a heavyweight.  Klitschko has got the size and experience in this matchup.  Not to mention that he is far more athletic than the challenger Arreola. 

When he returns to the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Klitschko will be returning to the scene of the biggest victory in his career.  No, I don’t mean the night he beat a badly out-of-shape Corrie Sanders to win the vacant WBC heavyweight championship. 

I’m referring to the time he lost to an under-prepared Lennox Lewis.  It’s odd, but there are few times when a loss does more for a fighter than any other win.  But that was one of those times.

That night, the heavyweight champion, Lewis turned Klitscho’s face into lunchmeat.  It was a horrific sight, but the determination the Ukrainian showed that night went a long way to restoring the Klitschko name and dispelling any beliefs that he and his brother Wladimir were made of less than sturdy material.

Other than the good, strong-willed showing by Klitschko and subsequently, the absolute mess that Lewis made of his face, the other thing that stuck with me was that the crowd in the Staples Center was completely on the side of the Ukrainian challenger.  Admittedly, I was disturbed by this at first. 

My thought at the time was "Why are these American fans cheering for the Russian over Lewis (I am aware that Lewis is British, by way of Jamaica, Canada and Britain again, by the way)?"  But why the Russian?

Well I’ve since come to the realization that Ukrainian doesn’t necessarily equal Russian, but also that there was a large contingent of Eastern Europeans in the crowd that night.  This Saturday, I venture to say that the crowd on hand will not be overwhelmingly in favor of the champion.  No, quite the opposite, in fact.

As all boxing fans know, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention, Arreola is of Mexican-American descent and would make history as the first of his kind to win the heavyweight championship of the world if he were to pull the upset. 

We know that L.A. is a fight town, and they especially come out if there is a favorite Mexican or Mexican-American fighter on the card.  The challenger will have the crowd on his side and emphatically at that.

One more thing that I’d like to mention is that although I love writing about boxing, I was a fan first and continue to be a fan.  I try to remain objective, but sometimes I do favor one fighter over the other for illogical, non-boxing reasons. 

I will be actively cheering for Arreola to win this fight.  Not because I don’t respect Klitschko as the champion.  But because Arreola is American.  Not just Mexican-American, but simply American.  There are more people that look like Arreola does in our country than at any other time in our history.  Please, embrace him America.

We need an American heavyweight champion.  Just one, okay?  Also, Arreola doesn’t bring with him the Adonis-like body we’ve become accustomed to seeing on our heavyweight champions in recent years.  Hell, he doesn’t even have a body like Larry Holmes or Gerry Cooney for that matter. 

But this imperfection could be endearing to American fans.  In this way also, there are more people that look like Arreola in our country than at any other time in our history. 

This lack of defined physique is surely one of the reasons Klitschko is favored over Arreola.  He’s bigger and stronger.  But I’ve seen a lot of Klitschko’s fights, and no matter who he’s in with, he seems to have his mouth hanging open and sucking wind by the sixth round.  Because of this, I believe that conditioning is a non-factor.

For Arreola to have a chance to win this fight, he has to get past the stiff, pawing jab that Klitschko throws out there.  The jab he employs is mostly a “range keeper” and not a “range finder.”  But at that range, he looks to drop the hammer, the big right hand, and follow it up with a possible uppercut. 

This is the prescription for any challenger against either of the Klitschkos.  I know, I know.  It’s easier for me to say this from my vantage point.

It’s a whole other thing to have to do it, or even to have the courage to attempt it.  I believe that Arreola has that courage and more.  I believe he has the willpower to attempt

this daunting feat.  I also believe he has the experience. 

This is a fighter who had close to 200 amateur bouts and is 27-0 in professional fights.  I venture to say he has the skills to do it as well.

Arreola is just nimble enough to keep moving and definitely tough enough to attempt it.  If he does get inside and keep the distance between them short, Arreola has the power to become champion of the world. 

Don’t come late to watch this fight, because it’s definitely ending early, one way or the other.