Regular readers of this blog know I have a lot of (platonic) love for Freddie Roach. Sometimes, though, I wonder if even he believes everything he says.
In this case I'm talking about his hyping up of MMA fighter Andrei Arlovski. Roach told Michael David Smith of AOL's FanHouse blog that Arlovski was finally ready to debut as a boxer on the undercard of the Chris John-Rocky Juarez rematch on June 27.
Haters can stand down, as this apparently isn't a case of someone looking to dabble in the sweet science (ahem, Anderson Silva). Smith writes that Arlovski is considering making a permanent career change and boxing from here on out.
Still, the real eyebrow-raising part of the piece is that Roach thinks The Pitbull could establish himself as a top heavyweight in a short amount of time, fast enough that he talks about him facing current titleholders like Nikolai Valuev and Wladimir Klitschko.
Obviously, Roach knows a lot more about how realistic that might be than I do. It just seems like after the numerous athletes who have weighed in about the vast differences between boxing and the stand-up aspect of MMA (spacing, timing, stances, etc.), it may be a bit more difficult than that.
So either Freddie is just doing his part to sell his guy or he really thinks the heavyweight landscape is as bleak as popular opinion says it is. We'll see in a few months - or perhaps not, as Arlovski doesn't officially have an opponent yet and isn't guaranteed to make it onto the televised part of the card.
Posted by The Franchise
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1 comment:
He's going to make some decent money, and it isn't like he has no previous experience with boxing/fighting. Roach may be blowing a little smoke, but I like Arlovski's chances to be more than just a gimmick.
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