Klitschko vs. Arreola, Pascal vs. Branco

Two green belts on the line in this weekend’s title fights in Los Angeles and our neighbors up north. While last weekend’s title fights produced a new titleholder, and a title rematch that finally declared the rightful winner compared to the controversial draw in their first meeting in, what is now boxing’s best home-cooking state, Texas.

Ukraine’s Vitali Klitschko vs. USA’s Chris Arreola

Klitschko’s WBC Heavyweight (200+ lbs.) title

The big boys are back! At least a fairly competitive heavyweight clash is expected when Vitali Klitschko and currently the best American heavyweight Chris Arreola meet at the arena that Kobe built.Vitali is returning to the Staples Center on Saturday where six years ago he lost to Lennox Lewis due to a deep cut over his left eye. Dr. Iron Fist was ahead in all scorecards, 58-56 across the board, when the ringside physician stopped the bout. That was only the second loss of his career. His other loss was to Chris Byrd in 2000 when his corner threw in the towel in the ninth because of shoulder pains despite an overwhelming lead as reflected in the scorecards later. The shoulder pain was later diagnosed as torn rotator cuff. If not for the injuries, Vitali would have been undefeated in his career with a very impressive KO ratio. All wins, but one, were stoppages. His only decision win was a one-sided beat down against then undefeated Timo Hoffmann where he lost only 1 round in 36 rounds of the judges’ scorecards. Since his return from a 4-year hiatus, he stopped both opponents in less than nine rounds including the title-clinching win against the “Nigerian Nightmare”, Samuel Peter.

Now, from one nightmare to another, Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola will be, in my opinion the elder Klitschko’s toughest opponent since Lewis. Arreola is undefeated and has been impressive in his gradual climb among the elites of boxing’s prime division. He has been on a tear, mowing over opponents one after another, but not without tasting the canvas himself. He was down in the second against Travis Walker last November before getting back up and flooring Walker twice in the same round. Arreola went for the kill early in the third and knocked Walker out for good. Arreola is on the cusp of making history as he is in the position to be the first Mexican-American to win the heavyweight title. Arreola, born in Los Angeles, has deep Mexican roots and is proud to represent his ancestral heritage. The fight will most likely go as far as Arreola’s stamina goes. His conditioning will determine how the fight will end. Arreola at 245 pounds and above will be a slow and easy target for Klitschko. Coming in lighter will make the fight competitive. Klitschko has the stamina to go the distance while Arreola only went past the sixth in 3 of his fights.My pick goes to the Ukranian by late stoppage. It’s tough to see Arreola penetrating the defense of the heavy-handed, tough-chinned Klitschko. Arreola will run out of gas after the eighth and will likely succumb to the constant punishment just like previous Vitali victims.

Haiti’s Jean Pascal vs. Italy’s Silvio Branco

Pascal’s WBC Light Heavyweight (175 lbs.) title

Pascal, the Haitian-born Canadian, will be defending his title for the first time against his mandatory challenger, Silvio Branco.It was only three months ago when Pascal overwhelmed a fatigued Adrian Diaconu in the championship rounds to win by unanimous decision and capture the WBC 175-lb. title. Diaconu is expected to be ringside rooting for Pascal. A Pascal win will settle the rematch between the two on December.

Branco is ranked #1 by the WBC after winning 4 straight against ineffective opponents. He has fought mostly in Italy and will be fighting out of Europe for the first time in his career.My pick is Pascal by decision. This will probably be Branco’s swan song but will come out short against a skillful champion who is 17 years younger.

Past weekend’s title fight results

Sylvester wins vacant IBF Middleweight (160 lbs.) title via split decision

Dominican Republic’s Giovanni Lorenzo [27(19)-2(0)-0] vs. Germany’s Sebastian Sylvester [32(15)-3(2)-0]

September 19 (Saturday) – Neubrandenburg, Germany

Sylvester won a close and entertaining fight against Lorenzo. Lorenzo started strong and probably took the first three rounds. After that, Sylvester went to work and was clearly ahead going into the championship rounds.

John retains his WBA Featherweight (126 lbs.) title via unanimous decision

Indonesia’s Chris John [43(22)-0(0)-2] vs. USA’s Rocky Juarez [28(20)-5(0)-1]

September 19 (Saturday) – Las Vegas, NV

Finally, the correct decision was made as John outpointed Juarez convincingly in their rematch. Justice delayed but at least the rightful winner eventually came out. The first fight was astonishingly a draw held in apparently biased Texas last February. The fight was similar to the initial clash except for the 12^th round where a left hook from Juarez hurt John who wobbled and grabbed in the final seconds of the bout.

Updated Tally of Titles per Country

The only change in the tally is the addition of the new IBF Middleweight champion, Germany’s Sebastian Sylvester.

List Rules: (1) Only Ring, WBA, WBC, IBF & WBO; (2) Excluded interim champs, WBA's regular champs (when there are unified/super champs), champs-in-recess, emeritus status champ, WBC's diamond title and whatever extra sanctioning fee driven title; (3) Tally titles not titleholders; (4) Considered boxer's country of birth NOT ancestry, naturalized citizenship nor adopted home country.

Dennis Carreon can be reached at denniscmc@gmail.com