By Robert Morales, Staff Writer
Posted: 09/09/2009 10:54:45 PM PDT
By Robert Morales Staff Writer
VAN NUYS – There, Pete Rose sat on a stool inside Joe Goossen’s Gym on Tuesday. He was waiting for heavyweight contender Chris Arreola to begin sparring in preparation for his Sept.26 challenge to heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko at Staples Center.
Rose is Major League Baseball’s all-time hits leader. He played the game with rare spirit, earning the nickname “Charlie Hustle.”
Apparently, Rose has an affinity for Arreola because he displays similar zest in the ring.
“I love Chris’ passion for the sport,” Rose said. “And I just think he’s got a lot of ability. He can hit hard, he’s got a good chin. He gets mad. That’s the kind of guy I want in my corner. You knock him down, he gets up and knocks the hell out of you.”
Rose was present when Arreola was decked in the second round by Travis Walker in November in Ontario. Arreola came back and stopped Walker in the next round in vicious fashion.
“It’s almost like it woke him up,” Rose said. “I was at ringside and he got knocked down and it looked like he wanted to say, `What the hell am I doing on this canvas?’ He got up and just haymakered the (expletive) out of him.”
Mutual admiration
To say Arreola, 28, was stoked about Rose being on hand would be an understatement.
“When I met Pete Rose, I’m like, `Man, I’m a big fan,’ Arreola said. “He goes, `Man, I’m a big fan of you.’ And I’m like, `Man, you only seen me for a year. I’ve seen you like my whole life.’
“It’s a big honor to have someone like Pete Rose to actually follow me and be here, to actually want to be at my training camp to watch.”
U-S-A, U-S-A
If Arreola wins, he will become the first heavyweight champion of Mexican heritage. But Arreola, of Riverside via East Los Angeles, said it is at least as important to him that he brings one of the title belts back to the United States.
Currently, all four major belts are held by Eastern Bloc fighters.
“You see I have a tattoo of the Statue of Liberty before I got anything Mexican,” Arreola said, proudly showing off the tattoo on his right arm. “And the reason I’m so proud to be an American is because my parents came out here to give me a better life.
“I’m glad and blessed to be born here. I thank God every chance I get for being an American.”
Arreola’s parents were born in Mexico.
Seal of approval
Three sparring partners went three rounds apiece with Arreola. First it was Lance Whitaker, then Malik Scott and finally Cisse Salif.
The going was crisp, at times heated, as Whitaker and Arreola talked trash during their final round.
Observing was trainer John Bray of Van Nuys. Bray was 15-3-2 with five knockouts in the 1990s and was a Mike Tyson sparring partner during Tyson’s championship years. Bray, who the day of this fight will be inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame, liked what he saw from Arreola.
“He’s in shape,” Bray said during Arreola’s sparring with Salif.
“He keeps pushing forward with all these fresh guys. He’s throwing as many punches as he did in the first round.”
Arreola’s trainer, Henry Ramirez, was pleased with Arreola’s overall body of work.
“The thing we’re working on is hitting everything that is available – arms, shoulders, everything,” Ramirez said.
Daddy’s little girl
Arreola’s daughter, Danae, is seven years old. But she goes to all of dad’s fights.
“She knows that I box, that I fight,” Arreola said. “She’s a kid and she really doesn’t understand because she’s been around it her whole life. Ever since she was a baby, she’s been in a boxing gym.
“I remember me sparring and you can see her in the background in her mom’s arms and her jumping up and down. So to her, what daddy does, she probably thinks that everybody’s dad does this.”
Not everyone’s dad could.
Baseball Legend, Pete Rose
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