By Sonee Thompson
It was Seth Mitchell having the nightmares Saturday night as he relived his “blink and you’ll miss it” beat down courtesy of big talker Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola of Riverside, California. Arreola (36-3, 31 KO) met heavyweight hopeful Mitchell (26-2-1, 19 KO) center ring at The Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, Ca before a capacity crowd. It was a 12-round heavyweight fight promoted by Golden Boy in association with Goossen Tutor.
The loose lipped Arreola came out in round one landing hammering rights that shook the thin chinned Mitchell. In a weird series of events that looked like a push or throw down followed by a legitimate knockdown, referee Jack Reiss stopped the fight as Mitchell swayed to and fro trying to get focus. This fight in particular is where you really see Mitchell’s outright fear of being hit – a clear acknowledgment of his own shortcoming with the soft chin. As Arreola frosted on the last layer of power punches Mitchell turned his back to the shelter of Reiss who then halted the action.
Arreola has received criticism in the past for his lack of preparation but he disproved that label by coming in focused and fight ready. “I have been my only downfall,” Arreola admitted. “I should only have one loss on my record. All my other losses are on me for not training properly. But I came here to win tonight. And it was easy work.” Obviously shell-shocked and still wobbly Mitchell said, “I got caught. I am very disappointed. I was confident in my ability to win this fight. My heart just hurts right now. This was a big fight for both of us, a fight that I wanted. I didn’t want to step back after beating Jonathan Banks.”
You can’t help but like Seth Mitchell because he’s an all around nice guy and is always positive and upbeat. Nice guy and glass chin don’t get you very far in the world of boxing.
Strange to me were Arreola’s comments on Showtime after the match where he started off thanking God – then retracted it by saying “I want to thank myself for putting the work in, it wasn’t God that did this, it was me”. Hmmm okay. As he held his teenage daughter close he proceeded to blast off a trail of unnecessary expletives in nearly every sentence. I’m sure there are many post performance speeches that God would rather be left out of. Clean it up, Chris and set a better example for your young impressionable daughter.
Arreola wants a rematch with Stiverne, preferably for the WBC heavyweight title, which Vitali Klitschko currently sorta kinda holds. Olly Olly oxen free, Vitali.
Another great matchup Saturday night was the undercard featuring the featherweights. Efrain Esquivias (17-2-1, 9 KO’s), of Gardena, Calif., was given a great opportunity and capitalized on it with a 9th round TKO win against 38 year old Rafael Marquez (41-9, 37 KO). Esquivias must have seen the bait on the line with Marquez not being on trend since his win against Israel Vasquez in 2007. Clearance sale – aisle 9.
Marquez, the Mexican legend and future Hall of Famer, started out round one with some decent combos and flashes of a worn warrior but Esquivias was diligent in working the body and took the veteran Marquez off his game. For Marquez the majority of the fight his fast twitch muscles were nonexistent and there was no power behind his punches. The younger and grittier opponent Equivias was relentless and took everything Marquez dished out and more and kept on ticking with the short hard rights that wore Marquez down. Early in the ninth round, Esquivias connected clean on a right hand, sending Marquez to the mat. Referee Raul Caiz Jr. called a halt to the action as Marquez staggered around the ring looking for his corner and his stool. It was later determined that Marquez sustained an orbital fracture in the brutal battle.
As for Esquivias, I wasn’t blown away by his skill and quite frankly he has his has his own vision problems to deal with today with both eyes nearly closed by retirement ready Marquez. No, he’s not going to be an A-lister but he fetched himself another hot TV appearance and little bigger paycheck and a lot more respect. But the punchline is him calling out Leo Santa Cruz. Seriously? You better let the swelling go down and rethink that one Efrain. You beat Marquez, not Jhonny Gonzalez.
