When Chris Arreola takes on Seth Mitchell Saturday night, he will be a big betting favorite and a shoe in to win in the eyes of the majority of the boxing community.
The man they call “The Nightmare” needs to win, and win big to stay relevant, and hope to get future fights, in the heavyweight division.
While I do not disagree that Arreola should be the favorite, I have to say, proceed with caution. It cannot go unnoticed that Arreola has lost his three biggest fights, and in two of those fights, against Vitali Klitschko and Bermane Stiverne, he got beat up.
Arreola’s resume in fights when a lot is on the line is not good, plain and simple.
The question we have to ask ourselves is, can Seth Mitchell be considered a step up, or the type of fighter Arreola has built his name on?
Mitchell is a guy who was being hyped up by HBO, as a solid American heavyweight hopeful. A football player, who took up the craft of hitting someone in the face, at a late age, Mitchell found himself in the spotlight early and often.
The hype/hope came to a sudden end when Mitchell was stopped in November of 2012 by journeyman Jonathan Banks. The stoppage came after Mitchell had already been hurt early in fights, thus, he was given the label ‘chinny’, one of the more annoying words you can ever say.
It would be a mistake however, to dismiss Mitchell as a threat just because he chin is in question.
He is still fresh, much fresher than Arreola at this point, is athletic, has some power, and owns a slight reach advantage over Arreola.
If Mitchell’s chin can hold up, he can prove tricky for a guy who is very suspect in big fights.
Mitchell is also going in there with confidence. He avenged his loss to Banks, albeit by default, but the win put Mitchell in a good spot mentally, The Nightmare cannot make the same claim in his last fight.
Not many felt Bermane Stivrene, a fighter who was stopped by Demetrice King, was going to beat up Arreola the way he did.
Prior to this fight Bermane’s position in the heavyweight circle was the rearview mirror of other heavyweights like Byrant Jennings, Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury and Andy Ruiz.
Now Stiverne looks to get a title shot before all the aforementioned fighters, just because Chris was being Chris.
Now we are all suppose to believe The Nightmare will not become one again? Why?
I am not suggesting he cannot, but can he have to prove it before we give it to him?
Just saying
Chris Arreola has just as much to prove as Seth Mitchell Saturday night, the good news is, The Nightmare is no fool, and knows this himself.
