HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING ON ESPN “ENTERTAINING”
Bermane Stiverne-Mauricio Sulaiman-Don King
Los Angeles, CA– Boxing history has shown us time and again that the winner of the first fight usually wins the rematch. Just over one year ago, Bermane Stiverne handily beat Chris Arreola with q UD 12. Tonight, the second pairing between the two had a little drama before what turned out to be a spectacular ending. Arreola started out assertively and tried to impose his will early and did so until he got cracked and hurt with a right hand just as the opening round ended.
TRIMMER WASN’T ENOUGH FIR MEXICAN-AMERICAN
Arreola came out and outworked Stiverne in rounds two, three, four and five. Operating behind a left jab, occasional hook and right hand, the fight was 4-1 Arreola entering round six. Looking a little “gassed” at the end of the fifth, Arreolla was winning. But his lack of head movement, keeping it in the
“zone” (the middle) as the now 24-1 Haitian could punch and hit Chris with his eyes closed, wasn’t beneficial.
ROUND SIX WAS ALL SHE WROTE!
That was what happened as Bermane (Ber-man) caught Arreola with a right hand as the Mexican-American was trying to force the fight and that was a “wrap” per se. Referee Jack Reiss allowed Arreola to continue, but he get dropped by “punches in bunches” again. Looking deep into Arreola’s eyes, referee Reiss let the fight go but when he realized Arreola was a “dead man walking,” stopped the fight. It wasn’t the prettiest stop ever made, but it was a correct move by the Southern California official.
DON KING IS BACK!
As I noted before, boxing is not the same sans promoter Don King. A checkered past cast aside, DK brings excitement and a personality to promoting boxing that nobody else can. The “wire haired” wonder has Stiverne under contract, thus King is now back in the heavyweight championship mix seeing Stiverne (24-1-1, 22 KOs) picked up the vacant WBC heavyweight title with the win.
EITHER LIKE HIM OR HATE KING DON
Look, being on the opposite side of things with King in negotiations has worn some of boxing’s best business men out. There have been times when King would just not give up and talks that would start the day before going on until the wee hours of the morning. Didn’t matter, even now at 81, King has more endurance than those half his age.
ARREOLA HAS REACHED HIS ZENITH
Time to get real and realize that Stiverne is a good fighter that can punch well with both hands. That being said, recognized World champ Wladimir Klitschko hasn’t had a “live” foe to fight in years. Well, he does now. Both fighters scaled 239 lbs. as Arreola drops to 36-4, 31 KOs. While the Haitian has a future, a rededicated Arreola who ruined Seth Mitchell in a September 2013 fight, has nothing to be ashamed of as he was simply beaten by the better man.
KLITSCHKO VS STIVERNE IS THE FIGHT TO MAKE!
Wladimir has been in some not so thrilling matches of late against inferior opposition. That being said, Kltschko promoter Tom Loeffler knows where the big fight for Wladimir is with the Haitian Stiverne.
Pedro Fernandez