LOS ANGELES — While Chris Arreola sweated through his new workout regimen at a sweltering gym in a grimy corner of the San Fernando Valley, it finally dawned on him: He had become the top American heavyweight prospect in spite of himself.
Jogging? Nutrition? Any serious exercise at all, beyond beating the stuffing out of heavy bags and opponents? Arreola avoided them all his life, preferring to fight mostly on his raw punching skills.
Arreola still hasn't lost a pro bout, but what could he do if he really tried? It took a title shot against Vitali Klitschko to persuade him to find out.
"It's hard. I've never done anything like this before," Arreola said after a recent workout in Van Nuys. "We do cardio, core strength, lifting — and we train in the mornings, which I hate. We're doing all this stuff outside boxing that I never wanted to do before."
Arreola is a big underdog in Saturday's bout at Staples Center, with many observers dismissing him as a sheltered contender who will take a beating for a big payday. Yet Henry Ramirez, his longtime trainer, saw a change in Arreola after signing that big-money deal to take a shot at the WBC heavyweight title in front of thousands of Latino fans cheering on the East Los Angeles native's quest to become the first heavyweight champion of Mexican heritage.