PRESS RELEASE: After winning his first 21 professional fights, rising Mexican heavyweight Cristobal “The Nightmare” Arreola is stepping up to main event status in familiar surroundings – and close to home. The 26-year old author of 19 knockout victories will headline Goossen Tutor Promotions’ inaugural boxing show on the Spanish-language network, Telefutura, on Friday night, September 21, 2007.
In the scheduled ten-round bout, the 6-4 Arreola (21-0, 19 KOs) will take on once-beaten Thomas Hayes (26-1, 18 KOs) at a venue where Arreola recorded four knockouts in succession early in his career – the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California.
“I am real excited about this opportunity to fight on Telefutura, especially near my home and in front of the many fans that saw me in my first few professional fights,” Arreola exclaimed. “Ontario is less than 15 minutes from Riverside, so all of my friends and family will be there screaming and yelling for me.”
Including a first-round knockout of Derek Berry in Carson, California in his most recent bout last month, Arreola has stopped his last nine opponents. He has attracted the interest of network boxing executives by virtue of his explosive power and aggressiveness combined with an engaging personality. With the Telefutura telecast available to millions, he has added incentive to perform well against a tough challenge in the hard-hitting Hayes -- a Chicago native, whose only loss was in his third pro fight over five years ago.
“It is very important for me to defeat Hayes and look good doing it on Telefutura,” Arreola pointed out. “I take pride in my Mexican heritage and my role as a beacon of hope for all Mexicans that, with hard work and dedication, anything is possible, including my goal to become the first ever Mexican Heavyweight World Champion, which I plan to be soon.”
For his part, Hayes has knocked out six of his last seven opponents. In his most recent bout, the 26 year-old Windy City product took out Jim Franklin in three rounds last December in Cicero, Illinois.
“I know Arreola is a big puncher,” Hayes credited. “But so am I. This will be a battle of two aggressive bangers and someone is going down. To all of Arreola’s hometown supporters I say, ‘Don’t expect it to be me.’ I am not traveling half way across the country to lose.”
“I’ve had many discussions with Telefutura regarding the extraordinary gifts and talent of Cristobal for over a year. And to their credit, they see it. Forgetting the Tyson-like lightning knockout power and furiousness, he has this incredible desire to become the first Mexican to ever hold the heavyweight world championship. That’s bigger than huge. With all the great heavyweight champions throughout our history, Cristobal has the opportunity to achieve something no one ever has wearing that crown,” said Dan Goossen, President of Goossen Tutor, which is promoting the show in association with Thompson Boxing Promotions.
“Cristobal has gotten a lot of people very excited as a rising star in the heavyweight division, which have been unchartered waters for Mexican fighters. There have been many great Mexican world champions, but never in the heavyweight division. In the foreseeable future, Cristobal Arreola could make that fact obsolete.”
The TeleFutura Network, which was launched in January 2002, has become the nation’s #2 network for Hispanic Men 18-49 and 18-34. It reaches 89% of all U.S. Hispanic TV households and 50% of all U.S. TV households. Solo Boxeo debuted as a primetime TeleFutura program when the network launched and has been a fixture on Friday nights ever since, averaging over 500,000 viewers per telecast.
Tickets for the September 21, 2007 Arreola-Hayes heavyweight bout will go on sale Wednesday, August 29 at (714) 935-0900.
