Vitali Klitschko retains WBC boxing title

Arreola was outclassed by the Ukrainian Klitschko, who lives in Germany, in a one-sided bout, which ended before the 11th round began, when Arreola's trainer, Henry Ramirez, threw in the towel.

Ramirez said he had no choice but to stop the fight. "He was taking too much punishment," he said. "It was not an easy decision, but I had to do it."

Klitschko was magnanimous in victory, saying he knew Arreola was hurt. "I hit him a lot, but he has a great, great chin," he said.

Klitschko appeared to taunt Arreola throughout most of the bout, keeping his hands low and sticking out his own chin. Arreola showed he can take a punch, but left many wondering how he could win 27 consecutive fights in the heavyweight division when this one – his first title bout – was so lopsided.

Klitschko bloodied Arreola's nose in the 8th round, keeping the challenger away with his longer reach and left jab in front a near capacity crowd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

It was Klitschko's second defense of the WBC title since returning to the ring in 2008 after a four-year, injury-induced absence. He improved his record to 38-2, while Arreola slipped to 27-1.

Klitschko's brother, Vladimir, defeated Ruslan Chagaev in June of 2009 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, to retain his IBO, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles.


gb/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Andreas Illmer