In an exciting, hard-hitting, sloppy eight-minute war, heavyweight boxer Chris Arreola beat Travis Walker with a TKO just 13 seconds into the third round. Walker whipped Arreola in the first round and knocked him down in the second, but Arreola showed a strong chin and a strong heart in coming back to knock Walker down twice in the second and again in the third.
Arreola is America's best heavyweight, but if he wants to be heavyweight champion of the world -- which would mean beating either Wladimir Klitschko or Vitali Klitschko -- it's time for him to devote himself to his conditioning. Arreola weighed in at a flabby 254 pounds for the Walker fight. To have a realistic chance of beating a Klitschko, he's going to need to be a chiseled 240.
Fortunately, Arreola seems to know that.
Asked whether he's ready to fight one of the Klitschko brothers, Arreola said, "Ready means being in better shape than this fight. ... As soon as the fight was over I was thinking about Klitschko already. ... Come Monday, back in the gym and hit the road work."
Arreola would be an underdog against either Klitschko. But he has real talent, and he's just 27 years old. He's America's best bet for a heavyweight belt.
