By Clive Bernath: According to the Los Angeles Daily News WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko is set to defend his title against unbeaten American Chris Arreola at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on September 26. The fight will be broadcast by HBO.
A press conference is said to be scheduled for next week to officially announce the fight and will come as a huge relief to Klitschko, who will finally get to defend his title following the farcical on off negotiations with British heavyweight David Haye.
Vitali had all but signed to fight the former cruiserweight world champion in Germany but Haye pulled out of negotiations at the last minute and signed to face WBA champion Nikolay Valuev instead.
Mandatory challenger Arreola, from Riverside via Los Angeles, will not only be motivated by the huge support he can expect from his local fans but also by the fact he could become the first heavyweight champion of Mexican ancestry.
Nothing comes easy, though, in boxing, especially in the heavyweight division. Klitschko stands 6ft 7,owns an impressive record of 36 knockouts from 37 starts with just two defeats, and will provide Arreola with by far the sternest test of his unbeaten career. That said the 28 year-old, who calls himself ‘The Nightnmare’, is a pretty heavy hitter himself, having stopped 24 of his 27 victims. The quality of his opponents may not quite match up to that of the more experienced Klitschko but Arreola comes to fight, is a solid 250lbs and will be a far tougher opponent than David Haye.
It is fair to say that the heavyweight division is not exactly bursting at the seams with talent at present. Neither Vitali or his brother Wladimir Klitschko, who holds the IBF title, have been overly stretched whilst defending their respective titles. But as said earlier, Chris Arreola comes to fight. He may not be the most technical of fighters but he likes to come forward throwing punches, before slowly walking his opponents down. Vitali too is not shy when it comes to exchanging bombs so hopefully, we may just see something that is all too rare in heavyweight boxing nowadays-a highly entertaining and explosive encounter.
August 5, 2009
....source
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