WON: 25
LOST: 0
DREW: 0
KOs: 22
RANKING: WBC #4, WBO #4 IBF #7, WBA #11
TITLES HELD: WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight Champion
NICKNAME: The Nightmare

One of the top young heavyweight prospects in the Goossen Tutor boxing stable, unbeaten Cristobal “The Nightmare” Arreola (25-0, 22 KOs) has been recording knockout wins at a Tyson-like pace since debuting as a professional in September, 2003.
Twenty-three of twenty-five opponents have failed to go the distance with the 26-year old Riverside, California big man of Mexican descent, who is managed by Al Haymon and trains under the watchful eye of Henry Ramirez at the city’s Lincoln Gym on 14th Street.
Arreola began boxing as an amateur back in 1987 and, four years later was training at the Resurrection Gym in East Los Angeles where he used to watch a young Oscar De La Hoya work his way toward Olympic Gold and superstar status as a professional.
Among his amateur highlights was a victory over Dallas Vargas (brother of 2004 U.S. Olympic heavyweight Devin Vargas, and himself with over 300 amateur fights) in the Finals of the National Golden Gloves in 2001 to win the 178-pound title.
Uncertain of the direction he wanted to go in life, Arreola took a two-year hiatus from boxing in 2001. “To be honest I was young and immature and didn’t know what to do with myself,” Arreola admitted. “I wanted to try out for the 2003 Golden Gloves but arrived shortly after the check-in deadline and they wouldn’t let me tryout.”
Arreola, following his two years of soul-searching, made a decision to return to the ring, but not as an amateur. He made a commitment to Ramirez that he was going back to boxing and he hasn't stopped training hard since, including sparring sessions with the likes of stablemate and two-time world champion James “Lights Out” Toney and current IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.
Arreola kayoed Roosevelt Parker in his first pro bout in Laughlin, Nevada, and stopped his next seven opponents before winning a bout by disqualification to interrupt his impressive string of knockouts to begin his pro career.
The 6-4, 235 lb. Arreola, who has acquired an impressive following and become a fan favorite in Southern California, is in the midst of another knockout streak, as he has stopped his last nine opponents.
February 9, 2007 in New York he stopped Zaheem Graham (10-1-1, 7 KOs) in three rounds in a bout broadcast on ESPN; May 4, 2007 at The Palms Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, NV and televised on Showtime, Arreola stopped Malcolm Tann (23-2, 12 KOs) in eight rounds; July 14, 2007 in Los Angeles, California at the sold-out Home Depot Center and televised by HBO, Cristobal stopped Derek Berry in the first round; September 21, 2007, “The Nightmare” destroyed Thomas Hayes (26-1, 18 KOs) in three rounds in a bout broadcast on the Univision television network, which took place in front of a sold-out hometown crowd in Riverside County; February 9, 2008, Arreola defeated Cliff Couser with a TKO in the first round at the Pechanga Resort and Casino.
On June 21, 2008 “The Nightmare” squared off against the unbeaten heavyweight Witherspoon at The FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee winning the vacant WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight crown by disqualification after viciously dropping Witherspoon twice in the third round of the HBO televised event, Witherspoon’s corner entered the ring before the referee’s count was over, depriving Arreola of another knockout victory.
Most recently, in his second title defense on the September 25, 2005 Versus Network televised co-feature, Chris dominated once-beaten Israel “King Kong” Garcia with an onslaught of accurate punches en route to a third-round stoppage at the Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, a short distance from his Riverside home.

FAMILY:

Cristobal, age 26, was the third of six children of Mexican heritage born to Augustin Arreola and Lucy Rivera in Los Angeles, California. The couple divorced when Cristobal was 12 years old and he moved with his mother to Riverside, California.

Of his five siblings (3 sisters and 2 brothers), brother, Juan Carlos Rivera (32), is the eldest. Sisters Caribel Abena (31), Zeleny Arreola (18) and Caty Valera (12) and little brother Ervin Valera (11) follow.

Cristobal is a single father of five-year old daughter, Danae, from whom he draws inspiration when he looks at her sitting ringside at his fights.

Cristobal got his boxing roots from his father, who was an amateur fighter in Los Angeles, and introduced him to the sport while he was still in diapers. None of his siblings ever got into the sport.

EDUCATION:

Cristobal spent his formative years getting educated in the Los Angeles Public School System. He attended the Middleton Elementary School and Gage Junior High School in Los Angeles.

He attended Roosevelt High School in East LA until his sophomore year when he moved to Riverside with his mother following his parents’ divorce.

In Riverside, he finished his sophomore year at La Sierra High School. He spent the first two months of his junior year at Canyon Springs High School, but was unhappy there and transferred to Ramona High School where he eventually graduated.

Following a year at Riverside Community College, Chris left school in order to work and help his family financially.

WHY BOXING:

“I’ve been in the gym basically my whole life with my dad. I was hitting the heavy bag and the speed with him when I was one and two-years old. He’d hold the bag and I would hit it. I’ve always been involved in boxing. But then he quit and then I didn’t go for awhile.
“But then his old trainer, Hector Rodriguez, who was part of the coaching staff of the 1984 Olympic Team, called my dad and told him he was opening up a gym and asked if he would like to come and help him. So, my father started helping him in the gym in 1987 and I went up there with him and started boxing and started training and learning and have been ever since.”
LITTLE KNOWN FACTS:
CHILDHOOD HERO: “Julio Cesar Chavez. I loved watching him fight and I met him a couple of times when I was a kid. I had a chance to go to his house in Culiacan, Mexico because of my father was from near there and my aunt lived in Culiacan. I used to go and watch him train.”
PEOPLE MOST ADMIRED: “Most personally, the man I love a lot and respect a lot like my father is Hector Rodriguez. He was my coach when I was a kid and I admire and respect him. Everything he ever told me I just took to heart and ran with it. Also, my other coach, Angel Suarez. I respected him a lot, may he rest in peace. Every time I fought and he was in my corner he was always telling me what to do and I took it all into consideration and respected his decisions.”
EARLIEST BOXING MEMORY: “My first amateur fights.”
GREATEST SPORTS MOMENT: “When I won the National Golden Gloves in 2001. The other was when I was in Ramona High School and scored 31 points in a basketball game. That was pretty cool. It was one of my best moments ever.”
PRE-FIGHT FEELING: “Anxious. Not so much nervous, but more anxious. I just want to go and get in there. Once I get in the ring and look at my daughter, it’s all over.”
HOBBIES/INTERESTS: “Besides drinking beer (laughing)? Actually I teach boxing at KO Fitness in Riverside, California. It’s really rewarding to me to teach people. I’ll go and shoot around a basketball, but I don’t play no more because I don’t want to twist an ankle or anything that will jeopardize boxing.”
FAVORITE MOVIE: “I love ‘Scarface.’ Every guy loves ‘Scarface.’ I also like this movie called ‘Blood In, Blood Out’ (also known as ‘Bound By Honor’), which was a prison movie starring Benjamin Bratt and Ving Rhames.”
FAVORITE MUSIC: “I love listening to R&B and a lot of old R&B. Hip-Hop also, but mainly R&B. I like the Isley Brothers. I like Marvin Gaye. And I can’t forget Luther (Vandross). “
FAVORITE MEAL: “I’ll eat any kind of Mexican food. I like seafood like shrimp also. And my girlfriend got me into sushi.”
FAVORITE BREAKFAST CEREAL: “I don’t eat breakfast cereals.”
FAVORITE JUNK FOOD: “Oreos. I gotta get my Oreo fix once-a-week. I’m not supposed to but, man I love Oreos.”
FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR: “Rocky Road.”
FIRST JOB: “I worked for a restoration company as a carpenter. I restored houses.”

FAVORITE BOXERS TO WATCH: “It’s all the little guys like (Marco Antonio (Barrera), (Erik) Morales and (Manny) Pacquiao. I love watching the little guys because they just go at it.”
TOUGHEST OPPONENT: “Without a doubt, hands down it was Domonic Jenkins. His record says nothing about him. He’s a tough fighter. He punches hard, too.”
FAVORITE FIGHT: “A few fights ago I fought Sedreck Fields. I showcased more of what I have to offer. People saw more of what I got. I was throwing more combinations to the body and head and finally got him with a body shot. So I just worked a lot harder on that one.”
MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT: “I was 11 years old and me and my friend and our moms went to the thrift store a block away from our house. My stomach was bothering me real bad, but I was a shy kid and didn’t want to ask to go to the rest room. We started walking home and my stomach was bothering me more. I had some little soccer shorts on and I started running and all of a sudden I just let loose. I was running and crying and dripping and all of my friends playing football on the street were laughing at me. That was embarrassing (chuckling).”
CHILDHOOD DREAMS: “To be a champion. Not a heavyweight champion, just a champion. When I was a kid I would draw pictures of me boxing and everything. Never in my life did I ever think I’d be a heavyweight though. When I was 17 years old, I was like 6-4, 170 or 165. I’d watch ‘ThunderBox’ and I’d say I’ll never fight those big guys. Now I’m a heavyweight.”
GOALS: “I want to be a good role model. I know all boxers want to be a champion. I liked Lennox Lewis. He was a great champion in my eyes. I want to be a good champion and I want to be a good role model. That’s one of the hardest things to live up to because people have started to look up to me and now I have to watch what I do and what I say. I want to set a good example in and out of the ring. I want to make history by being the first Mexican Heavyweight World Champion.”
THINGS YOU WOULD LIKE BOXING FANS TO KNOW ABOUT YOU: “I’m a cool, mellow guy. People think that I’m big and I look pretty intimidating, but I’m not. I’m a quiet guy. If you ever see me, come and say ‘Hi’. I’m cool and mellow. I’m not full of myself.”
PRESENT:
Negotiations are in the final stages for a WBC Continental Americas title defense against Goossen Tutor stablemate Travis “Freight Train” Walker on HBO on Saturday night, November 29, most likely in Ontario, California. It would be Arreola’s third title defense.