L.A. home away from home for Klitschko
Cris Arreola vs Vitali Klitschko
Although Vitali Klitschko is from Ukraine, spends a lot of time in Germany and has traveled the world, the heavyweight titleholder also considers Los Angeles a second home.
It's where he fought two of his most memorable fights. He owns a home there. And it's where his wife gave birth to their three children.
So you can't blame Klitschko for being excited that he's headed back to Los Angeles, where he'll defend his heavyweight title against Cristobal Arreola on Saturday night (HBO, 10 ET) at the Staples Center.
Even though Arreola, who's from nearby Riverside, Calif., is the local fighter and figures to be the crowd favorite -- especially as he pursues becoming the first Mexican-American heavyweight titleholder -- Klitschko said he will feel right at home, too.
"This will be fight No. 3 at Staples Center, and I spend a lot of time in Los Angeles," said Klitschko, who will make his second title defense since ending an injury-forced retirement in October 2008 by knocking out Samuel Peter to regain his title. "I have a lot of friends here, and Los Angeles has a huge boxing community. To be at Staples Center -- for me, it's the biggest arena, and I'm ready to fight there."
Klitschko has waged a pair of memorable battles there. In June 2003, he was ahead 58-56 on all three scorecards after six brutal rounds in a slugfest against champion Lennox Lewis, but he suffered a terrible cut around his eye, and the fight was stopped after the sixth. Klitschko was crushed and begged to go on.
It turned out to be Lewis' final fight, and even though Klitschko lost, he won the crowd over with his brave performance.
With Lewis retired, Klitschko returned to the Staples Center two fights later in April 2004 and scored an eighth-round knockout of South Africa's Corrie Sanders to claim the sanctioning organization belt that Lewis had vacated when he hung up his gloves. But after one title defense against Mike Tyson conqueror Danny Williams at the end of 2004, Klitschko (37-2, 36 KOs) was forced to retire the next year just before a mandatory defense against former champ Hasim Rahman because of nagging knee and back injuries, which he says healed during his time off.
"I spent the time in retirement to fix all my problems," Klitschko said. "Before I made my comeback, I talked to many people. I talked to my coach [Fritz Sdunek], who supported me; I talked to my family. My mom and my wife didn't want me to go into the ring anymore, but I feel good. I passed all tests and medical exams, and we decided to make my comeback.
“I doubt he [David Haye] had an injury when he gave up the fight against Wladimir [Klitschko]. We gave Haye the same contract as he got with Wladimir. Against me, Haye had little chance to take the title. That's why he didn't want to fight. He's unserious. I don't think about him anymore. Right now, I focus on Arreola.
” -- Vitali Klitschko, on putting the David Haye debacle behind him
"To be honest, [retirement] was very difficult psychologically on me," Klitschko said. "Some people thought I didn't want to fight Hasim Rahman. They didn't think I had a real injury. There were so many stories out there. Psychologically, I think for every sportsman it's very difficult to make the decision on retirement."
After he made his triumphant return against Peter in Germany, Klitschko made his first defense there as well, emphatically stopping Juan Carlos Gomez in the ninth round in March.
After that fight, Klitschko was supposed to defend this month against England's David Haye, the former cruiserweight champion. Haye already had pulled out of a June fight against Klitschko's younger brother, unified champ Wladimir Klitschko, claiming a back injury.
Vitali Klitschko gave Haye the benefit of the doubt and agreed to fight him. But after coming to an agreement, Haye bailed on Vitali as well. Instead, Haye took a November fight against titlist Nikolai Valuev, who is perceived a much easier opponent for Haye.
The move angered Klitschko.
"He's a serious fighter, but not a serious person," Klitschko said of Haye. "Professional boxing is not just work, it's also about negotiations, contracts. To make the fight happen, you have to put a lot of work into that. Against Valuev, he has a chance to be world champion. Against me, he has a chance to be knocked out.
"I doubt he had an injury when he gave up the fight against Wladimir. We gave Haye the same contract as he got with Wladimir. Against me, Haye had little chance to take the title. That's why he didn't want to fight. He's unserious. I don't think about him anymore. Right now, I focus on Arreola."
When the Haye fight fell apart during the summer, Arreola (27-0, 24 KOs) was tapped, and Klitschko elected to face him in Los Angeles, where Klitschko had wanted to fight again.
"It was something Vitali wanted to do," said Tom Loeffler, the managing director of Klitschko's K2 Promotions. "This fight was a natural for Staples -- Arreola living in Riverside, Vitali having a house in Los Angeles. His children were born in Los Angeles. It's the only place this fight could have happened."
By coming stateside, Klitschko will have a wide audience on HBO, and the fight will be seen in more than 100 countries around the world. But Klitschko also left money on the table because he can earn more by fighting in Germany.
"Vitali can fight over in Europe for more lucrative paydays, but the Cris Arreola fight, with Cris being from Los Angeles and Vitali having fought here at Staples Center twice, it really made sense to keep it here," Loeffler said. "Vitali wanted to bring the fight to Los Angeles in front of the American boxing fans. Arreola is the undefeated No. 1 contender, so we're really looking forward to [it]."
Klitschko said the money was secondary for him. Instead, he thought about what an old friend had once told him.
"The United States is the mecca of boxing. Max Schmeling told me, if you want to be a real world champion, you have to fight in the United States," Klitschko said of the late former heavyweight champ who became a close friend of the Klitschko brothers before his death in 2005. "Money is very important, but I don't fight just for the money. I fight for the fans.
"I'm very happy to fight in the U.S., especially against Cris Arreola in Los Angeles. It is going to be a very good fight, and I'm happy to show my skills. It's been a long time since I've fought in the U.S., and I want to refresh the memories of all boxing fans."
Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.
