Chicano Heavyweight Cristobal Arreola kicked off his 2011 campaign in impressive fashion by defeating Joey Abell in the first round of a scheduled 10 round matchup last Friday Night at the Pechanga Casino in Temecula. For once, Arreola’s weight issues took a back seat to his boxing skills as he was able to exhibit many of the new techniques learned under newly acquired trainer Ronnie Shields. In one of the finest performances of his career, Arreola (30-2, 26 KOs) displayed excellent balance, and  head movement which enabled him to catch Abell with a picture perfect right cross that violently snapped his head back exciting the sold out crowd of 3,000. Arreola followed up beautifully with a furious flurry capitalized by three left hooks that buckled Abell’s legs prompting referee Tony Crebs to halt the bout at 2:18. The bout may have only lasted one round in the eyes of a casual fan, but through the eyes of veteran trainer Ronnie Shields it had the feel of a full twelve rounder.

   “It was one round to the public, to me it was twelve rounds,” Shields told following Arreola’s knockout victory over Joey Abell. “I saw everything, I saw him (Arreola) come out moving that head the way he was supposed to move it, to me that was like heaven because that’s what we worked on.” 

   If Arreola’s performance seemed “heavenly” as shields suggested, perhaps it was only because Arreola put himself through hell to get there.

   2010 was a lost year in the career of Cristobal Arreola. It was a year of missed opportunities brought upon by a lack of self discipline and focus. From late night binges at various taco shops in the greater Riverside area, to purposely skipping out of training camps, it all translated to what Arreola called “The Shittiest year of my life.” Not only did his career take a hit, but his standing among his most ardent supporters soured as well. As a result, Arreola’s two fights last year drew meager crowds. Arreola knew that restoring order back in his life meant a total rededication to himself, and to the sport. After a bit of soul searching, he decided to enlist the services of well respected trainer Ronnie Shields. In his 22 years as a professional trainer, the Houston based Shields has guided the careers of some of boxing’s elite: Holyfield, Tyson, Whitaker are just some of the names on his impressive resume. Having been an admirer of Arreola since his amateur days, Shields jumped at the opportunity to work with the 6’4″ Mexican-American hope.

   “Talent wise, he (Arreola) has just as much talent as Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, David Tua, all the guy’s that I’ve worked with” said Shields. “He has just as much if not more talent than those guys.”  

   Soon thereafter, Arreola embarked on a journey to Houston to begin the latest chapter in his life. By now Shields had become well aware of Arreola’s reputation of disappearing during training camps; he admits that he had to lay down some ground rules upon his arrival at the Savannah Boxing Club.

   “I said look man, I’ve heard about you going to camp, and then you leaving for a week or whatever, I said that happens I’m not there, it’s over. We did not have a problem, he was there every day he did everything that we asked him to do and that’s a great camp.” 

   The words “Great Camp” is something that we have been habituated to hearing out of Team Arreola, later to find out the exact opposite. But this time things would be a little different as Arreola surprised everyone by showing up to last Thursdays weigh-in at a svelte 249.6, his lowest weight in over two years. The weight loss translated into results as Arreola notched win number thirty with his most stirring victory since December 2009 when he defeated Brian Minto in four rounds. Shields believes that Arreola possesses the talent to put forth more performances such as the one against Abell, as well as to make a serious run at a world title.

   “There’s no reason on God’s earth that he shouldn’t be heavyweight champion of the world, no reason whatsoever.”

   Shields feels that with a little discipline, The Nightmare could plow right through the current crop of heavyweight champions such as the David Haye’s and Wladimir Klitschko’s of the division.

   “He could beat those guys, but like I said it takes discipline, he has to dedicate himself 24 hours a day I would say 8 weeks. He would never regret it because it would be the best thing that ever happened to him in his career.”

 Undercard Results

   • As the co-feature of the Arreola-Abell ESPN “Friday Night Junior Welterweight Contender Josesito Lopez (29-3, 17 KOs) scored a seventh round KO over previously unbeaten Jr welterweight Mike Dallas Jr (17-1-1, 7 KOs) in a clash for the NABF belt. Lopez overcame a vertical cut from an unintentional headbutt and steadily broke down Dallas with a left hook followed by a quick flurry that prompted referee Raul Caiz Jr. to stop the fight.

   • 2008 U.S. Olympian Shawn Estrada easily improved his record to (11-0, 10 KOs) by defeating Minnesota’s Jon Schmidt. Schmidt did not live up to his “Iron Man” Moniker as he was knocked down three times in the opening round prompting referee Raul Caiz Jr. to stop the bout at 1:48.

 El Gran Chisme

Baby Bull back in gym

   We last saw Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz last July on the losing end in a match against the great Juan Manuel Marquez. After the defeat, Diaz contemplated a retirement from the sport to focus on Law School. According to Diaz trainer Ronnie Shields, he has decided to resume his boxing career. “He (Diaz) has been in the gym for three whole weeks now” Shields said. “We are doing some new things with him now so he’s training and were looking to fight in May or June.”

Pacquiao-Mosley a Hot Ticket

   Pacman Fever hit MGM Grand with one of the biggest ticket runs in Las Vegas boxing history. Between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. PT, 16,000 tickets were sold to the Manny Pacquiao vs. Sugar Shane Mosley world welterweight championship. Barely 1,000 seats remain for Pacquiao’s return to the Fight Capital of the World, where he hasn’t fought since 2009.

Timothy Bradley Once Again Unifies WBO and WBC 140-Pound Titles

   Amir Khan, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez, the Klitschko brothers – line ‘em up — undefeated 140-Pound World Champion TIMOTHY “Desert Storm” BRADLEY (27-0, 11 KOs), of Palm Springs, Calif., is ready to knock them off their pedestals.  For the second time in his professional career Bradley unified the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and World Boxing Council (WBC) titles by beating the best.  This time it was undefeated WBC super lightweight champion Devon Alexander “The Great,” (21-1, 13 KOs), of St. Louis, Saturday night in the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich.,Bradley won a unanimous technical decision, in the first fight since 1987 to feature two undefeated American world champions colliding inside the ring with everything on the line.