Cris Arreola Takes Shot at History

After watching last weekend's one-sided loss by Juan Manuel Marquez, fellow Mexican Cris Arreola feels a cultural responsibility entering Saturday night's fight against heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko.

"It did give me an extra incentive to carry the Mexican torch and grab the bull by the horns," said Arreola. "Whether my fellow Mexican fighters are on the top or not, I am in the business to win the title."

A 28-year-old from Riverside, Calif., Arreola will enter the ring at the Staples Center in Los Angeles with a record of 27-0 (24 knockouts) and intentions of winning the World Boxing Council title from the 38-year-old Klitschko (37-2, 36 KOs) in a bout to be televised on HBO.

If Arreola defeats Klitschko, he will become the first heavyweight champion of Mexican descent, and will join John Ruiz -- who is Puerto Rican -- as only the second Latino to do so.

"Growing up, I used to go into the Great Western Forum to watch fights," said Arreola, referring to a venue known simply as "The Forum," and home to the NBA's L.A. Lakers. "I always wanted to fight at the Great Western Forum. Now I'm at the Staples Center, Daddy of them all."

Manuel Ramos of Hermosilla, Sonora, was the first Mexican to fight for the heavyweight title on June 24 of 1968, when he lost by second-round knockout to Joe Frazier.

Ramos, who earned the shot by decisioning Ernie Terrell, was a major underdog going in against Frazier, whom he actually staggered and nearly stopped in the first round.

Like Marquez, an aging fighter who was rising in weight against a larger, taller, younger, faster Floyd Mayweather, Arreola is a huge underdog against Klitschko.

"I was hoping that Marquez would pull off an upset because the odds were stacked against him," said Arreola. "I'm not one of those people who doesn't like Mayweather, but I did want Marquez to win because he was a fellow Mexican."

Among the knocks on the 6-foot-4 Arreola against the 6-8 Klitschko, however, is his relative inexperience, having never gone past eight rounds or faced an opponent with the champion's credentials.

"The main point who is the beginner," said Klitschko, "and who is the professional?"

Klitschko retired citing injuries in November of 2005, this, following an eighth-round knockout of England's Danny Williams in December of 2004. Klitschko returned to the ring in October by dethroning Nigeria's Samuel Peter with an eighth-round stoppage.

"[Klitschko] took a four-year layoff and he came in and he's done what he was supposed to," said Arreola. "You can't help but be impressed by him. He's not just beaten people, but beaten them convincingly."

Klitschko wants to add Arreola, nicknamed, "The Nightmare," to his impressive list of KOs, saying "I will give my best to send [Arreola] to the floor as soon as possible -- to knock him out."

But Arreola's done his best to void that, working feverishly on his upper body and head movement as well as his weight loss.

"I'm just eating right -- a lot of vegetables, greens, chicken, fish. I have a lot of energy," said Arreola, who has brought in strength and conditioning coach, Daryl Hudson. "By the end of this camp, I will have gone 12 rounds at least twice."

Arreola weighed 255 pounds for his last win in April -- a fourth-round knockout of former contender, Jameel McCline -- but said he is not overly concerned about his appearance.

"Some people can carry 250 and look like an Adonis. But I'm not a chisled dude," Arreola said. "I don't have a muscle body. I'll never be one of those body-building sort of guys. But my body looks better now than in my last fight."

No matter what, Arreola believes that he can count on a largely Mexican, if not, Latino fan base at the Staples Center. And then, he'll try to do what Marquez couldn't do.

"I think the crowd will favor me because it's Southern California. And in Southern California, [boxing is] a Mexican-driven sport," Arreola said. "We'll have a lot of Mexicans and a lot of Latinos there, and I'm going to feed off of their energy."