Heavyweight contender Cris Arreola will meet 34-year-old journeyman Brian Minto on Dec. 5 in his first bout since being stopped by Vitali Klitschko in the 10th round of September's WBC championship challenge.A resident of Riverside, Calif., the 28-year-old Arreola takes a record of 27-1, with 24 knockouts into the matchup with Minto, who lives in Butler, Pa.
Arreola-Minto will take place on the undercard of a middleweight (160 pounds) clash of southpaws between Paul Williams (37-1, 27 KOs) and Sergio Martinez (44-1-2, 24 KOs) that will be televised on HBO from the Adrian Phillips Ballroom at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Arreola stands 6-foot-4 and weighed 251 pounds against Klitschko (38-2, 37 KOs), a 6-8 fighter who weighed 252.
But Arreola will have a significant size advantage against Minto, who stands 5-11 and entered the ring at nearly 218 pounds for his last fight in August.
At 34-2, with 21 knockouts, Minto is coming off of a fourth-round, technical decision victory over previously unbeaten Donnell Holmes, who slipped to 31-1-2 with 27 knockouts.
Minto is riding a seven-fight winning streak that inclueds five stoppages, the first four of which were in the first round.
Minto's biggest win was a sixth-round knockout of former world title contender, Axel Schultz, in November of 2006.
The two losses on Minto's record were by decision to former world title contender Luan Krasniqui in March of 2007 and former world champion Tony Tubbs in December of 2004.
