On Saturday, March 9, Riverside’s Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola (35-2, 30 KOs) takes on the heavy-hitting Haitian Bermane “B. Ware” Stiverne (22-1-1, 20 KOs) in a heavyweight battle with the winner guaranteed to fight for the WBC Heavyweight World Championship in his next bout. Both Arreola and Stiverne will look to put their power on display to take that next step toward history.
Because you are a Fight Club OC supporter, you can purchase the best available tickets RIGHT NOW, before they go on sale to the public this Friday. Just go to www.fightcluboc.com and tickets are priced at $250, $150, and $75.
The Arreola-Stiverne showdown will be televised on HBO® World Championship Boxing at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT. This will also mark the first HBO® boxing event to be held in The Hangar at the world-famous Orange County Fair & Event Center, home to the popular Fight Club OC shows!
“Boxing fans can look forward to an exciting night of action on HBO® with the heavyweight showdown between Cristobal Arreola and Bermane Stiverne,” said Kery Davis, Senior Vice President of Programming, HBO® Sports.
“Boxing fans love the heavyweights and we have two of the best and biggest knockout punchers in the business going toe-to-toe,” show promoter Dan Goossen stated. “Chris is determined to become the first world heavyweight champion of Mexican descent. And with Salgado-Mendez, you have two of the top Junior Lightweights in a rematch that was a thriller the first time around. It will be a great night of fights at The Hangar.”
The event is being promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions. The Arreola-Stiverne bout is presented in association with Don King Productions and the Salgado vs. Mendez bout in association with Promociones del Pueblo and Acquinity Sports. The event is sponsored by Corona.
Doors open at The Hangar at 4:00 p.m. The first non-televised bout starts at 4:30 p.m. The scheduled 12-round bout between Salgado-Mendez will begin at 6:30 p.m. and the Arreola-Stiverne 12-round bout immediately after.
The Hangar at the OC Fair & Event Center is the centerpiece of the 150-acre campus. Opened in April of 2010 it was designed with an aviation hangar look, including a 50 foot high ceiling as well as 50 foot high hangar doors that can be rolled back to give The Hangar an indoor/outdoor feel. The Hangar also has a 40 foot high HD Screen. The Hangar, which is the home to Roy Englebrecht Promotion’s Fight Club OC shows, can be found at the heart of the OC Fair property in the Main Mall area. The Fair is located at88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626.
The Arreola-Stiverne fight shapes up as a bout unlikely to go the distance given the knockout rates of both combatants. Arreola, 31, has stopped all but five of his 35 victims, while the 34-year old Stiverne – whose only loss on his impressive record came more than five years and 11 fights ago – has allowed only two of his 22 conquests to hear the final bell.
The co-featured bout is a rematch between two-time World Champion Juan Carlos Salgado (26-1-1, 16 KOs) of Mexico City against the #1 world contender and mandatory challenger, Argenis Mendez (20-2, 10 KOs) of the Dominican Republic in a 12-round IBF Jr. Lightweight World Championship bout.
A solid five bout undercard will feature top Southern California prospects. Doors will open on Saturday, March 9th at 4pm with the first bout set for 4:30pm.
