By Peter Wells
Stiverne Knocks Out Arreola In 6 To Realise Childhood Dream
It gets no bigger than the Heavyweight title, and there was nothing more heart-warming than seeing the emotions flow from Bermane Stiverne as he realised his childhood dream had come true. Stiverne scored a 6th round knockout to become the new WBC Heavyweight champion of the world.
Stiverne repeated his victory over Chris Arreola, this time inside the distance as he floored Arreola twice before the contest was halted in a sensational heavy handed match-up.
Both fighters were wobbled but it was Stiverne’s power that won out in the end, despite a terrific effort from Arreola who looked in control of the contest before a fight changing right cross.
The Haitian-Canadian realised the dream of so many, and he deserves immense credit for the way in which he clinched the vacated crown. The contest itself was more than befitting the legendary title it represented.
Arreola came out strong in the opener as he backed Stiverne onto the ropes, but the Canadian seemed comfortable as he fired back, uppercuts and short hooks. Stiverne ended the round with a big right that weakened the legs of Arreola for a moment before the bell rang.
Arreola came out stronger in the 2nd as he pounded Stiverne on the ropes, but Stiverne looked comfortable as he coldly plodded forward, looking unmoved by Arreola’s hard work. A big right with under a minute remaining caught the attention of Stiverne, but Stiverne wisely covered up and saw out the rest of the session.
With a minute remaining in the 3rd the action heated up again as Arreola – who was countered with several rights in the round, launched three rights at Stiverne, backing him up before unleashing a barrage for the rest of the round. Stiverne looked shaken before the bell finally sounded to save him from a potential referee intervention.
Arreola dragged Stiverne’s hands down with a body combination before chopping his former nemesis with a left to the chin, at which point Stiverne found a more comfortable position in the ring centre.
A change in tactics came from Stiverne in the 5th as he looked to move and counter Arreola as often as possible, landing a textbook left hook as he swivelled away from an Arreola right. Still near the end of the session he was caught by a combination on the ropes as another round looked to go Arreola’s way.
Out of nowhere in the 6th round, Stiverne landed a huge counter right, the punch he was looking for which sent the Mexican-American stumbling to the canvas. Stiverne wasted no time in flooring Arreola again, Jack Reiss shockingly allowing the Heavyweight contest to continue with Arreola very shaky on his legs. Stiverne finished the contest seconds later as Arreola was saved from any serious damage.
A touching moment after the fight as Arreola came over less than a minute after the stoppage to congratulate Stiverne. The two then embraced in a true showing of mutual respect and admiration.
It was a true display of great Heavyweight fighting, and despite what anyone says, this fight was meriting of the WBC world title status.
Stiverne improved to 24-1-1(21) and is the new WBC Heavyweight champion of the world, while Areola loses for the 2nd time in a WBC title fight as he drops to 36-4(31). Stiverne will not become an overnight superstar but he has written his name in the history books, because while the media may devalue the current Heavyweight division, the media will never devalue the Heavyweight title.
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