Chris Arreola gives himself a C grade after lackluster performance against Manuel Quezada

Chris "The Nightmare" Arreola secures win #29 by dominating Manuel Quezada. File Photo: Jim Wyatt

Quick recap of ESPN2’s Friday Night Fight: Unlike the challenging matches we often see in the lower weight classes, the 12 round heavyweight bout between Chris Arreola and Manuel Quezada was nondescript for the entire first eight rounds with Arreola landing blows and Quezada playing the part of an obliging punching bag. Then a surprising thing happened in the ninth round when Arreola landed several big overhand rights and doubled up on some short left hooks as his opponent backed away. Down went Quezada who twice waited between the count of nine and 10 before rising to his feet.

Then just as mysteriously, Arreola did not try to finish his opponent off in the 10th round. More than likely Quezada took the 10th round by being the busier of the two boxers. Summing up the 11th round, it was back to the sloppy and short arm punches. In the 12th and final round, Arreola knocked Quezada off his feet for the third time but he couldn’t put him down for the count.

The judges’ scoring for this one-sided bout: Jonathan Davis 117-108, Marty Denkin 118-107 and Barry Druxman 118-107.

Once again supporters were fed a line of bull that Chris Arreola (29-2-0, 25 KO’s) was rededicated to his sport and he was in great shape. If being in shape means putting on additional pounds, then somebody has a distorted concept of what being fit is all about. If his opponent, Manuel Quezada (29-6-0, 18 KO’s) who first telegraphed each punch, managed to win even one round, than Arreola is not getting better, he’s regressing. The often criticized Arreola was in worse shape on Friday night, far worse, than he was for the Vitali Klitschko or Tomas Adamek fights.