Heavyweight contender Chris Arreola will take on Friday Ahunanya on July 9th in Atlantic City as part if the Paul Williams – Erislandy Lara Jr. Middleweight bout according to Dan Rafael of espn.com
The Williams – Lara and Akifumi Shimoda – Rico Ramos Jr. Featherweight title bout is scheduled for the HBO Broadcast while the network will air highlights of the Arreola – Ahunanya bout.
“The best thing for any fighter is to be active, and he seems to thrive on being active at this stage of his career,” said Dan Goossen. “That is one of the things that made James Toney a great fighter, that he stayed so active during his younger years.”
“There’s something to be said about staying in the gym and staying in shape like Arreola is doing,” Goossen said. “Since he’s staying in shape and staying in the gym, getting in a real fight where you earn money and enjoy the fruits of your hard labor in the gym by being in front a television camera and a crowd is a lot better than doing all of the same things to prepare in the seclusion of the gym and not getting to fight for real.”
Said Henry Ramirez, Arreola’s trainer: “He’s excited about being back so soon and excited about being on an HBO undercard, so the HBO people will be there to see and a lot of media will also be there. So he’ll be in good fighting shape, around 235, 237, and then go out there and perform the way he has lately.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it went the distance, but if we can get a stoppage, great,” Ramirez said. “We’re just happy to stay busy. If all goes well, we’re looking to have Cris fight two more times this year.”
“Friday’s a durable, experienced veteran,” Ramirez said. “Obviously, he’s toward the end of his career, but he’s a name people in the boxing industry know and a step above a Kendrick Releford.”
