FanHouse Cris Arreola

Heavyweight contender Cris Arreola will meet 34-year-old journeyman Brian Minto on Dec. 5 in his first bout since being stopped by Vitali Klitschko in the 10th round of September's WBC championship challenge.

A resident of Riverside, Calif., the 28-year-old Arreola takes a record of 27-1, with 24 knockouts into the matchup with Minto, who lives in Butler, Pa.

Arreola-Minto will take place on the undercard of a middleweight (160 pounds) clash of southpaws between Paul Williams (37-1, 27 KOs) and Sergio Martinez (44-1-2, 24 KOs) that will be televised on HBO from the Adrian Phillips Ballroom at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Although his Nov. 8 bout slated for Jeju Island, South Korea, was canceled, 47-year-old former four-time champion, Evander Holyfield, could fight South African, Francois Botha, on Dec. 19, in Uganda. A good showing in the Botha fight could also lead to a possible title shot at WBC champion, Vitali Klitschko, Holyfield's manager, Ken Sanders, told FanHouse on Tuesday.

"We do this fight in December, then I'd say in February or March, we could have a championship fight with the WBC's Vitali Klitschko," said Sanders, whose contention is supported by comments made by WBC president, Jose Sulaiman.

"If Evander comes and has a good showing in the fight that takes place in Jeju, I think that Klitschko might take a fight with him," Sulaiman, told FanHouse on Sept. 28 when Holyfield-Derric Rossy still was scheduled. "I believe that Evander Holyfield is one of the best heavyweight fighters of the last quarter century."

Vitali Klitschko will make the third defense of his WBC heavyweight title against unbeaten Kevin Johnson, according to Klitschko's manager.

"It looks like he's going to fight Kevin Johnson on Dec. 12 in Switzerland [at the PostFinance Arena] in Bern," said Tom Loeffler of the Klitschko brothers' K2 promotions.

Loeffler also said that it looks as if Vitali's younger brother, 33-year-old Wladimir Kiltschko (53-3, 47 knockouts), will defend his IBF and WBO titles "sometime in March" against Philadelphia's Eddie Chambers (35-1, 18 KOs).

Mark Taffet, Senior Vice President of HBO Sports Pay Per View, said Floyd Mayweather "clearly has proven his star status by generating the kinds of pay per view numbers that very few men in the history of the sport have ever generated."

FanHouse spoke to Taffet, the man in charge of HBO's Pay Per View, as he addressed Mayweather, the Nov. 14 megafight between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, the cable giant's "hunger to go younger" initiative geared toward drawing America's youth to the sport of boxing, and how the organization determines which fights are deserving of pay television status during this exclusive interview.

The chaotic scene outside of Veltins Arena resembles that of a big, rock festival.

Inside the jam-packed, 61,462-seat capacity stadium in Gelsenkirchen, Nordrhein-Westfalen -- one of the largest sports complexes in Germany -- the wait is over.

The larger-than-life, world champion Klitschko brothers emerge from separate sides of the ring and climb through the ropes to finally determine who is the king of the ring.

If only it weren't fantasy.

If Evander Holyfield wins a Nov. 8 bout in Jeju Island, South Korea, the 46-year-old former four-time champion could position himself for a title fight against World Boxing Council champion Vitali Klitschko, organization president, Jose Sulaiman told FanHouse on Monday night.

"I believe that Evander Holyfield is one of the best heavyweight fighters of the last quarter century," said Sulaiman, adding that the fight would take place on the final day of the WBC's Nov. 1-8 convention in Jeju Island.

"Everybody in China, Korea, Japan and all of Asia, they talk very highly of Evander Holyfield," said Sulaiman. "The convention committee is looking to have him in that fight on the final day of their meetings, and we're looking to help him to get back on track."

An aging fighter who is approaching 40 years old, Vitali Klitschko said this past week that when the time comes he will truly know when to retire from boxing.

"I'm in great shape, and I am in great form. If I feel that I don't have it left anymore, I will announce my retirement. But not yet," said Klitschko, adding that Saturday night's performance in defense of his heavyweight World Boxing Council championship against Cris Arreola would go a long way toward determining his decision.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Cris Arreola showed he had plenty of heart. Vitali Klitschko showed he had even more skill.

Klitschko retained his piece of the heavyweight title Saturday night, dominating Arreola from the opening bell before Arreola's corner finally decided he had enough and refused to let the challenger come out for the 11th round. It was the first loss for Arreola, who was trying to become the first Mexican-American to win a heavyweight title.

FanHouse has a Vitali Klitschko vs. Cris Arreola live blog for round-by-round updates of one of the biggest heavyweight fights of the year.

The main event will start on HBO after the replay of Floyd Mayweather's victory over Juan Manuel Marquez, to begin at 10 p.m. ET.

FanHouse caught up to rising middleweight, Paul Williams, in Westminster, MD., on Friday night where the man generally considered to be among boxing's pound-for-pound best watched a stablemate on a local fight card.

A 28-year-old, southpaw with two-fisted power and, usually, an incredible energy level and punch output, "The Punisher" Williams (37-1, 27 knockouts) has twice won WBO titles at welterweight (147 pounds) and one at junior middleweight (154). Williams will appear with 27-year-old, World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization middleweight (160) champion, Kelly Pavlik (35-1, 31 KOs) at Tuesday's press conference announcing their Dec. 5 clash at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall.