While Arreola has a fairly impressive amateur record, having fought more than 200 times before turning pro, his real worth has been tested in the ring against elite fighters in his bid to win a major title.
Arreola has a pretty good professional career record, having won all his 27 fights since turning pro in 2003 until his first loss against Vitali Klitschko in 2009. He quickly bounced back with a TKO win against Brian Minto in the same year and got the opportunity to bag the IBF Heavyweight title, which was at stake against Tomasz Adamek the following year but he lost by a majority decision.
His other two losses were inflicted by Bermane Stiverne, who lost to Wilder last year at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.
It appears that Arreola’s 27-fight winning streak took into consideration the quality of his opponents. Most of them were not near the level of worthy title challengers. Arreola started losing when he faced worthy opponents which include Klitschko, Adamek and Stiverne.
Seemingly, Arreola isn’t on Wilder’s level at this time. While the fight would be fun to watch, it could be a potential mismatch considering the disparity in their individual career record.
Wilder is unbeaten in his pro career with a 97 percent KO rating. Up until 2010 he knocked out his opponents in four rounds or less. Out of his 36 career fights, 35 came via knockout which happened before end of fourth round.
The 30-year-old fighter from Tuscaloosa, Alabama said he is ready to do what he does best which is to win by knockout in the early rounds.
“I want to get back to my knockout days. My hand was about 85 percent when I defended my title,” said Wilder during the last press briefing before facing Artur Szpilka last year. “Now it’s looking back as strong as ever. It’s back to 100 percent. I’m looking to go back to where I used to be — four rounds or under.”
With Wilder’s injuries now fully healed, there is little doubt he will start knocking out his next opponents starting with an early round KO victory over Arreola on July 16 at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.
A win by Wilder over Arreola could set him up for a lucrative fight against heavyweight titlist Tyson Fury, who is set to face Wladimir Klitschko in a rematch later this year.
