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Chris Arreola Defeats Brian
Minto
& Other Results From Atlantic City
By Tim Donaldson
Atlantic City is not Arreola’s town and quite a few of those
in the crowd let him know that. As Arreola entered the ring,
there were cries of Remember Vitali and Klitschko,
Klitschko. Arreola, however, seemed focused, ignoring the
crowd as he paced the ring waiting for the ring announcer
Jimmy Lennon Jr. to introduce the fighters. Whether or not
Arreola heard the cries from the crowd, Klitschko probably
was on his mind. He needed a win to prove that he still
deserved the attention that is being given him by HBO and
the boxing world.
Arreola definitely had the weight and height advantage over
Minto. Arreola at the time of weigh-in weighed a full
forty-five pounds more than Minto, but that did not stop
Minto from trying to give Arreola a spirited fight.
Unfortunately for Minto, it was not to be his night. As long
as Arreola could keep some distance, he could dominate
Minto. Minto’s shots did not seem to affect Arreola, and his
main defense was nothing more than to hold Arreola to stop
him from punching. Minto would try to push his way in by
ducking way down, but this was to lead to Minto’s demise. In
the fourth, Arreola dropped Minto. Minto got back up and
battled back. Then he made his fatal mistake. He came
charging in like a bull, running right into a punch from
Arreola. He went down again. Although Minto was to survive
the count, the referee stopped the fight at 2:40.
Arreola might have thought that this would put the memory of
Vitali to rest. However, the memory of Vitali was to linger.
He was asked about it by Kellerman, and the same crowd that
kept shouting Vitali as Arreola entered the ring were
shouting it on his way out.
Arreola vs. Minto was not the only heavyweight fight of the
night. Before their fight, Tony Thompson fought Chazz
Witherspoon in what was a less than thrilling fight. In the
first round, Witherspoon was throwing and landing more of
his shots. Thompson seemed to throw very little. Other than
some jabs, Thompson just moved around the ring. The
Philadelphia crowd was loving the fact that their own
Witherspoon seemed to be doing so well. However, Thompson
stepped up his fight. At times, he looked as though he was
simply trying to land that lucky punch, but he definitely
was throwing more than in the first round. Witherspoon
actually looked surprised after being hit by a hard shot to
the head at the end of the round.
The rest of the fight seemed to be Thompson dominating
Witherspoon, except when Thompson was looking tired and
taking a short break. Thompson looked to have several
opportunities to finish the fight. In the fourth, Thompson
landed a hard left to the chin causing Witherspoon to
stumble. He tried to finish him off here, but Witherspoon
survived the round. However, Witherspoon had not given up.
He had his moments in the fifth, catching Thompson on the
ropes. Thompson was looking tired.
But the fight was to be Thompson’s. Even though he was
looking tired by the fifth, he kept up the pressure on
Witherspoon. In the seventh, he again was looking for that
opportunity to knock out Witherspoon. But that opportunity
was to come in the ninth. After the eighth when both
fighters looked too tired to keep going, Thompson came out
with more vigor than Witherspoon. His punches had more
power. He knocked him into the ropes. Witherspoon got a
standing eight count. Thompson pressured Witherspoon right
back to the ropes and landed several head shots.
Witherspoon’s corner stopped the fight at 2:13 in the ninth.
The night started with a bout between Middleweights Jeremiah
Wiggins and Manuel Guzman. Although Guzman looked to be the
better boxer at times, he was forced to fight Wiggins’
fight. Wiggins would take swings at Guzman when off balance,
and he had very little defense except to keep hitting
Guzman. Guzman tried to fight a defensive fight, ducking and
turning Wiggins, but he was unable to land most of his
punches. Wiggins spent round after round stalking Guzman,
landing more punches. Wiggins won the unanimous decision.
The second fight of the evening was over almost as quick as
it began. Featherweight Jorge Diaz knocked out Luis Paneto
in what was a very one-sided fight. Paneto was doing a lot
of moving, trying to avoid Diaz. However, Diaz landed a hard
shot on the chin of Paneto. Paneto fell forward and that was
the end of the fight. The fight only lasted two minutes and
fifty-three seconds.
The third fight of the evening looked as one-sided as the
second. Welterweight Carlos Quintana TKO’d Jesse Feliciano.
From the first round, Feliciano was out-classed by Quintana.
Quintana was landing more shots and constantly turning
Feliciano. At times, Feliciano looked confused. In the
second round, Feliciano was able to land a left hook to the
chin of Quintana. This made Quintana more hesitant as he
came in. However, this was not to be enough. Quintana was to
get the best of Feliciano. The referee stopped the fight
fifty-nine seconds into the third round.
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