Arreola with weight on his shoulders, not in midsection

Arreola with weight on his shoulders, not in midsection

Mark E. Ortega

May 27, 2011

When Friday night's original main event from the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada between Josesito Lopez and Steve Upsher fell apart following a training injury sustained by Lopez a few weeks ago, heavyweight contender Chris Arreola was called upon to step in and headline the ESPN televised Friday Night Fights on short notice. Arreola [31-2, 27 KOs] will be stepping in against journeyman Kendrick Releford just two weeks after scoring a third round stoppage of the game Nagy Aguilera in Carson, California away from the cameras in an off-television appearance.

What the southern California based Arreola showed in that fight was a renewed dedication to the sport as he tipped the scales at 234 pounds, the lightest he has weighed in at since July of 2007. The main concern with the fan friendly Arreola has always been his commitment. In his two biggest opportunities to date, Arreola weighed in north of 250 pounds in his world title shot against Vitali Klitschko in September of 2009 and his important crossroads bout with Tomasz Adamek less than a full year later. Losses in both bouts sent Arreola to the back of the line, usually with a paycheck that had a couple less zeroes than he had grown accustomed to.

That Arreola has found himself under 240 pounds against less than stellar opposition is promising for his future. For this fight, Arreola weighed in at 236 pounds.

Releford [22-14-2, 10 KOs], of Fort Worth, Texas, is a journeyman caliber opponent but one that has only been stopped twice in his fourteen defeats, often giving his more credible opposition more than they expect in a losing effort. Releford will be the smaller man as he weighed in at 230 pounds.

A win likely won't result in Arreola moving much closer to a title shot, but keeping the heavyweight active and away from the cervezas promises to be a positive thing. One can only hope that getting back in the ring so soon doesn't carry a negative result as sometimes fighters can feel overtrained, as many expect the case was with James Kirkland and his return from a long layoff. While the bout is scheduled for ten rounds, not many expect it to see the distance.

Although Arreola brings the star power to Friday night's card, the heavyweight bout that sees the most on the line is the IBF mandated box-off between #6 Maurice Harris and #7 Tony Thompson in a twelve-rounder that will determine who will meet former title challenger Eddie Chambers in an eliminator for a shot at the winner of the much anticipated Wladimir Klitschko-David Haye title unifier later this summer. The bout serves as an intriguing rematch of a fight that took place in the November 2002 Thunderbox Heavyweight Tournament finals, which Harris won on points. Although the bouts didn't register on their official records, Harris scored a $100,000 prize for winning the eight-man tournament which can be given credit for helping inspire the recently established Prizefighter series over in the United Kingdom.

Harris [24-14-2, 10 KOs], of East Orange, New Jersey, carries a record similar to that of journeyman Releford, but is on a four bout win streak since returning to the ring following a nearly three year layoff. Harris began his career at just sixteen years of age, compiling a 9-8-2 record before hitting his stride as a pro. His eighth loss came at the hands of Larry Holmes in a USA Tuesday Night Fights main event that saw Harris outwork and outbox his elderly, vastly more experienced opponent. Although Harris wound up on the wrong side of a controversial decision, the defeat served as a huge confidence builder that would lead Harris on a seven fight win streak before being brutally knocked out by Derrick Jefferson in an HBO Boxing After Dark co-feature. Harris continued to fight tough opposition at a .500 clip, handing future WBO heavyweight champ Sergei Liakhovich his first defeat in his biggest victory.

Thompson [35-2, 23 KOs], of Washington, D.C., is credited with giving heavyweight kingpin Wladimir Klitschko perhaps his toughest challenge over the younger brother's most recent title run. Thompson was eventually stopped in the eleventh but put up a solid fight that kept his stock from falling too far. What has kept Thompson back is his lack of a personality as he has been dodged by the bigger name heavyweights otherwise. At the press conference following Chris Arreola's loss to Adamek, Thompson challenged Arreola to a fight, at which the Mexican-American basically laughed it off as a joke.

Thompson has done his part to earn another shot in stopping his last four opponents and is two fights away from being in line for another title opportunity. At 39 years old, a loss would be devastating to his career and would likely end any hopes of another big fight opportunity. Thompson will carry a size advantage into the ring as he weighed in at 255.5 pounds against Harris' 244.

Well touted junior middleweight prospect and 2008 U.S. Olympian Javier Molina [6-0, 4 KOs] is also making a quick return to the ring after decisioning Danny Figueroa over four rounds two weeks ago in Carson. The Norwalk, California based fighter will be met in a four-round bout by David Lopez [3-5-3] of Caldwell, Idaho. Molina weighed in at 149 pounds while Lopez came in at a half pound heavier at 149.5.

In an interesting rematch, former esteemed amateur standout Michael Ruiz, Jr. [7-0-1, 3 KOs] of Fresno, California will go at it again with Jonathan Alcantara [4-4-2] of Novato, California in a return of their bout from last November on the undercard of Andre Ward-Sakio Bika. The bout was a much more measured one than privy boxing fans expected, but both camps are expecting more of a slugfest this time around. Ruiz felt he didn't deliver his best effort last time around and expects to come away with a victory in their six-rounder. Ruiz weighed in at 119 while Alcantara came in a pound heavier at 120.

Exciting super featherweight Guy Robb [3-0, KO] of Sacramento, California meets Nogales, Sonora, Mexico's Noe Lopez, Jr. [7-7, 4 KOs] in a four-rounder. Robb is coming off of an explosive decision victory over Manuel Morales from March in Fairfield, California in a bout that was so good it deserved to be televised but was unfortunate in missing the telecast. Robb is a fan friendly fighter who has never failed to deliver excitement while Lopez expects to stand up to the young fighter's ferociousness.

2000 U.S. Olympic silver medalist Ricardo Williams, Jr. [17-2, 10 KOs] of Cincinnati, Ohio will step into the ring for the second time in 2011 as he takes on trial horse Chris Grays [9-22, 5 KOs] of Traverse, Michigan in a scheduled six rounder. Williams was once considered the best natural prospect to come out of the 2000 Olympics, but he failed to reach the level many expected, likely due to his being overwhelmed by a large signing bonus at such a young age. Williams is still young enough at 29 to make a real go of things, but he will have to step in against a real opponent sooner rather than later if that is to happen. Both fighters weighed in at 148 pounds.

Knockout artist Tyrone Brunson was left off the card as six bouts will be featured on the Goossen-Tutor Promotions headed card.

Tickets for the May 27 boxing card at the Reno Events Center are priced at $100, $59.50 and $29.50. Tickets may be purchased at Reno Events Center, Eldorado and Silver Legacy's Ticket Offices, or by phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on line at www.ticketmaster.com.

Doors open at 4 p.m. with the first bout at 5 pm. The first ESPN televised bout is set for 9 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. PT.