Chris Arreola vs Travis Kauffman Preview December 12th
Two-time world title challenger Chris Arreola of Los Angeles, California will be taking on his buddy Travis Kauffman of Reading, Pennsylvania in a 10-round heavyweight contest at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas this Saturday, December 12th. This bout is part of the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) series and can be seen live in Canada and the U.S. on the full NBC network. The 34-year-old Arreola will enter the ring with a record of 36-4-1 with 31 Kos while Kauffman is Travis Kauffman 30-1 with 22 Kos to his name. Both boxers have better-than-average power as Arreola has a knockout ratio of 74 per cent hand Kauffman’s stands at 71 per cent.
Arreola vs Kauffman Betting Odds
Here are the winner odds from online sportsbook 5dimes.eu
- Travis Kauffman +155
- Chris Arreola -175
My Pick
Arreola and Kaufmann aren’t the biggest heavyweights around in this era of boxing, but they’re not small either as they both stand 6-feet-3-inches in height. In fact, nobody really has a size advantage here as they also have the same each at 76 inches. Arreola has fought 181 rounds since turning pro in 2003 and has beaten the likes of Damian Wills, Cliff Couser, Chazz Witherspoon, Travis Walker, Jameel McCline, Brian Minto, Joey Abell and Seth Mitchell. He’s been beaten by former world champions Tomasz Adamek, Vitali Klitschko and Bermane Stiverne twice. Klitschko managed to stop him as did Stiverne once. Arreola’s last bout was a 10-round majority draw with Fred Kassi in July.
Kauffman has 94 rounds to his name since turning pro in 2006 and has wins against Couser, Chris Koval, and Epifanio Mendoza. His last outing was a second-round KO over Mendoza in September. Kauffman may have a fine record and good power, but he hasn’t fought anybody who could be considered a top-10 contender. Areola certainly has the edge in experience due to his list of opponents over the years. However, Kauffman is very familiar with Arreola since the two of them have sparred together on numerous occasions and are also friends out of the ring. But as we saw last week when Daniel Jacobs stopped Peter Quillin in the first round, friendship means nothing once the bell rings to start the fight.
Both boxers have been active this year as they’ve each fought twice. If Kauffman held his own in the sparring sessions against Arreola he should enter the fight with some confidence. Kauffman has been in better form recently, but as mentioned earlier, the opposition hasn’t been that stiff. Arreola is more or less a one-dimensional fighter, but he’s good at that dimension. He’s an exciting, fan-friendly boxer who doesn’t mind slugging it out and taking two punches to land one of his own. He’s been stopped a couple of times, but still has a better-than-average chin.
Kauffman’s only loss was also by stoppage and that came to Tony Grano in the fourth round of their 2009 tilt. Since then he’s won 12 straight fights with seven of them coming inside the distance. This should be an entertaining fight and there could be a knockdown or two along the way as both fighters have an attacking mentality and plenty of power to boot.
Prediction……
This is a close fight to call with Arreola being the favourite due to his past experiences in the ring with top-notch opponents. This is Kauffman’s first step up in class so it’s hard to judge him on past performances. A win be either man won’t come as a surprise, but Arreola’s experience could be the key factor and we’ll go with him winning by decision or stoppage in the second half of the bout.
This is another fight in which each guy has a puncher’s chance.
Play: Arreola -175 @ 5dimes.eu
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Chris Arreola betting • Travis Kauffman betting