Arreola stops Releford in seven

Arreola stops Releford in seven

Mark E. Ortega

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

May 27, 2011

Friday night in Reno, Nevada, fighting just two weeks after stopping Nagy Aguilera in three rounds in Carson, California, Chris Arreola assumed a role with more spotlight as he stepped into the ESPN Friday Night Fights main event against Kendrick Releford that was vacated by an intriguing junior welterweight bout between Josesito Lopez and Steve Upsher when Lopez suffered an injury in training.

Arreola [32-2, 28 KOs], who fought off-television two Saturday's ago on fellow Goossen-Tutor stablemate Andre Ward's undercard, weighed in at a trim 236 pounds and worked hard to earn a seventh round stoppage against the durable journeyman Releford [22-15-2, 10 KOs], who had only previously been stopped twice in fourteen losses.

Releford got off to a good start, touching Arreola accurately with a good jab before the heavy [in odds] favorite Arreola got him into the corner and began pounding away. Arreola took his time with this opponent, not really pressing the fight until about the fourth round when Releford seemed to have run out of gas. It was midway through the fight that the Fort Worth, Texas native began taking heavy punishment. The end seemed like it was going to come in round six when Releford sustained a beating in the corner that forced him to a knee. Arreola tried getting the finish but ran out of time as Releford survived the round.

It would take almost the full seventh round for Arreola to finally get his stoppage as a flurry of punches that left Releford defenseless was enough for referee Russell Mora to jump in and save Releford at the 2:43 of the seventh round.

Arreola has scored two quick wins against modest opposition, but the important thing to draw from the wins is his newfound dedication. One hopes that when he gets into the ring with a top ten opponent that he carries that same focus.

The evening's most important bout also served as the most embarrassing, as #7 IBF heavyweight Tony Thompson [36-2, 24 KOs] of Washington, D.C. scored an easy third round stoppage over #6 ranked Maurice Harris of East Orange, New Jersey [24-15-2, 10 KOs] in an IBF box-off to meet Eddie Chambers in an IBF eliminator. The bout was thought to be a relatively competitive one going in, but Harris' lack of effort was visible from the gate. Thompson teed off early, landing mostly behind the head shots although Harris was wobbled by as much of a jab at one point.

Harris seemed to have no legs whatsoever and came into the fight in dreadful shape. He neglected to throw a meaningful punch until the end of the first when Thompson ran out of gas. The fight wouldn't get any more competitive as Harris was put down once each in the second and third rounds before ultimately being stopped on his feet at 1:51 of the third.

That this served the winner up to being one fight away from a world title shot is an embarrassment as well as a good illustration of how pathetic the heavyweight division under the Klitschkos is.

Although Thompson is now the guy with the fortunate positioning [he gave a game effort against Wladimir Klitschko in '07, was stopped in eleven rounds], at age 39 it would be hard to give Thompson a fair chance against any champion. He will have his hands full with Eddie Chambers, who was stopped in the final seconds of his Klitschko shot last year.

2008 U.S. Olympian junior middleweight prospect Javier Molina [7-0, 4 KOs] of Norwalk, California had a tougher than expected assignment in Caldwell, Idaho's David Lopez [3-6-3], ultimately earning a unanimous decision win over his outclassed opponent. What Lopez lacked in footwork, handspeed, and power, he more than made up for in heart as he unleashed a number of wild combinations in the closing seconds of nearly every round or after a successful combination from the favorite. Molina was able to maintain his poise as he was presented with a more lively opponent than the record would indicate. Molina was also coming off a two week break from his last fight.

Fresno, California bantamweight prospect Michael Ruiz, Jr. [8-0-1, 3 KOs] scored a close and questionable unanimous decision over game Jonathan Alcantara [4-5-2] of Novato, California in a rematch of their November draw in Oakland. Ruiz sustained a late rally in rounds five and six after falling behind by most ringside accounts. Alcantara was the more accurate fighter throughout but the action was mostly pressed by Ruiz, who earned a decision much wider than the action would dictate. Scores were 60-54 twice and 59-55.

2000 Olympic silver medalist Ricardo Williams, Jr. [18-2, 10 KOs] of Cincinnati, Ohio won a unanimous decision over Chris Gray [13-15, KO] of Baton Rouge, Louisiana by scores of 59-55 twice and 58-56 in a six-round welterweight bout. Williams turned in a lackluster performance against an opponent he should have stopped if he is to be serious at this point of his career. Still only 29 years old, Williams has some time to make something happen but he is going to have to face a real opponent at some point.

In a walkout bout, Sacramento, California's Guy Robb [4-0, KO] turned in maybe the most exciting performance of the card as he won a unanimous decision against Noe Lopez, Jr. [7-8, 3 KOs]. The bout featured tons of in-fighting with Robb coming out on the better end of it more often than not. Scores were 40-36 across the board.

The card was promoted by Goossen-Tutor Promotions and televised live on ESPN Friday Night Fights.