Chris Arreola, Bermane Stiverne weigh in

Henry Ramirez, trainer of heavyweight contender Chris Arreola, on Friday morning told this newspaper he expected Arreola to weigh in at around 245 pounds in the afternoon.

Ramirez was close, as Arreola came in at 248 for his title-elimination bout against Bermane Stiverne on Saturday at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario (on HBO). Stiverne weighed 247.

Arreola, of Riverside, is expecting a difficult fight.

“It’s not tough for me to get up for this fight because he’s a tough fighter,” he said.

Arreola, 32, is 35-2 with 30 knockouts. Stiverne, 34, is 22-1-1 with 20 knockouts.

 

 

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Reddit Tumblr Email Snailmail

Stiverne vows to ‘chop’ Arreola’s ‘head off’

When Bermane Stiverne began to speak at Wednesday’s final news conference promoting his heavyweight title-elimination bout Saturday against Chris Arreola at Citizens Business Bank Arena (on HBO), he spent the first couple of minutes thanking everyone for this opportunity.

Then the soft-spoken Haitian got downright mean.

“I’m calm and everything,” said Stiverne, who moved from Haiti to Florida when he was 11, eventually landing in Canada. “But if anybody was to cut me and see what’s inside of me. …”

Stiverne (22-1-1, 20 KOs) took some breaths, as if he was having difficulty getting out the words.

“Saturday night, I’m not here to knock you out, Chris,” he said, looking at Arreola on the dais. “I’m here to chop your head off. I will chop your head off. That’s what we do, where I’m from.”

Arreola (35-2, 30 KOs) actually welcomed that kind of talk.

“I’m a crazy (expletive) guy,” Arreola said, looking at Stiverne. “I like the fact that you want to chop my head off. It’s an honor, honestly. I’m right with you. Boxing’s about trying to knock somebody out. We ain’t here to throw jabs and 1-2 and run. This is not happening right here. This is a fight.”

Arreola turned his attention back to the reporters in front of him.

“He already made it a fight just by his words,” Arreola said. “Chop my head off? That got my attention. That’s good. I’m happy. Now I’ve got a fire in my belly more than I had before.”

Arreola turned his attention back toward Stiverne.

“Honestly, I’m going to (expletive) you up,” Arreola said.

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Reddit Tumblr Email Snailmail

Goossen: Tyson, Arreola similar

Now that heavyweight contender Chris Arreola finally has started to train the way a world-class fighter should, his promoter is boasting big about what Arreola can bring to the ring.

This past Tuesday, at an Arreola workout at Warzone Boxing Club in Rancho Cucamonga, promoter Dan Goossen was so stoked about the way Arreola looks, he might have gotten a bit carried away in his assessment of Arreola.

“I was talking to the guys with HBO today about it,” Goossen said of Arreola, who Saturday will take on Bermane Stiverne of Canada in a title-elimination bout at Citizens Business Bank Arena (on HBO). “I was saying that he’s a guy that single-handedly can bring the excitement back into the heavyweight division. Why? Because he’s got all the elements that Mike Tyson had, OK? You wanted to see a Tyson fight to see how he could destroy someone, and Arreola’s that type of fighter.
“You know you’re not going to see him jabbing and countering. He’s going to go out there and just look to fight hard. He’s going to look to go out there and knock you out. That’s what the fans want to see. That’s what gets their juices going.”

Goossen went deeper.

“And then you throw in the other side of the coin, where Tyson had that personality where you never knew what was coming out of his mouth; he’d say some outrageous things,” Goossen said. “Well, you never know what’s going to come out of Chris’s mouth; he also says outrageous things.
“You’ve got a very similar parallel to those two guys and I just believe now Chris has that state of maturity that he knows he’s gotta look like this to be able to compete with anybody in the heavyweight division.”

Arreola, 32, is 35-2 with 30 knockouts. Stiverne, 34, is 22-1-1 with 20 knockouts.

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Reddit Tumblr Email Snailmail