By Sergio Martinez

 

After close to six years of toiling in the trenches of boxing, Cestus Management’s flagship fighter, “Mighty” Mike Arnaoutis, arrived to the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, as the favorite to win the vacant WBO 140-pound title. His final boxing obstacle to title town was Colombian Ricardo Torres. Although Torres was known as a tough and rugged brawler who packed dynamite in both fists, it was Arnaoutis’ boxing ability and speed that were seen as the key elements for victory. But it was not to be, as “Mighty” Mike put on a less than stellar performance and lost a controversial split decision.

 

Arnaoutis’ adviser Mike Michael of Cestus Management had this to say concerning his fighter’s biggest night. “We are all very disappointed that we didn’t win the title as it was a long time coming and we all worked very hard to get Mike to that fight. Still, we are not disheartened as we all thought, including the network and bona fide media present at the event, that Mike Arnaoutis clearly won the contest. The fight was closely contested, but that was more because “Mighty” Mike was not at his best, but he still did not get beat.”

Still, although the split decision was controversial with the vast majority in the arena believing that Mike Arnaoutis won the fight, the only scores that matter are the two cards that awarded Torres the belt.

 

It is hard to understand why a fighter like Arnaoutis - who was groomed to be a world champion - would, all of a sudden, wilt under the bright lights of Las Vegas in the biggest fight of his career. Michael had this assessment to offer on what happened that night. “What’s done is done. I believe that the buildup, tension and realization that he was fighting for a world title may have affected Arnaoutis to a point. It reminds me a lot of when I was with Panos (Eliades) and (Lennox) Lewis fought Evander Holyfield the first time. Even though Lennox clearly won that fight, he was affected by the whole situation and did not perform to his ability.

 

“Still, Arnaoutis may have been affected but showed that he was the superior fighter who threw the superior shots. He had the power to drop the guy (Torres) and basically won the fight. We need to have an immediate rematch ordered, like in the case of Lewis-Holyfield I, as we all know that this was a lottery ticket for Torres.”

 

With Torres barely winning the fight and looking more like a spent fighter than a viable champion, it is hard to imagine that Top Rank, who promotes Torres, would agree to an immediate rematch and risk losing the title to a fighter not in their stable. Michael disagrees, stating, “Torres is going to be out of action for sometime because of an injury suffered that night. Still, I think there is a very strong possibility that there will be a rematch because everyone will want to see if Torres can actually beat “Mighty” Mike. I think a lot of fans and media were disappointed with Torres because everyone had higher expectations due to his showing against Miguel Cotto. I think a rematch will happen because everyone wants to see if both of these fighters had an off night as the fight was expected to be a furious affair.”

 

Still, the question that has to be asked regarding Arnaoutis is: Can a young, undefeated fighter mentally handle a failure of this magnitude? “I know he is very disappointed in himself and he told me after the fight that he knew he was the superior fighter and knew that he could have performed a lot better. I think he understands now and knows what it is like to be in a world title fight and knows that he can win a world title. He has now been exposed to fighting in front of eighteen thousand people on a huge pay-per-view event. It is the kind of experience that will make Mike better and he will not fail on his next title attempt. I know Arnaoutis is strong mentally.”

 

Michael continued, “My question to Arnaoutis was: What did you learn from this fight? He answered: “I’ve got to bring my own judges (referring to his fists) and not let anyone decide my fights.” In the end, only time will tell if “Mighty” Mike Arnaoutis is able to recover from this fight and fulfill his desire to be crowned world champion.

 

In closing, Mike Michael says “Now, we just have to move on with what we have and that is a world-class fighter. We will bring him back and, without question, Arnaoutis is going to be a world champion soon. Everybody in boxing now knows that Mike is a world-class fighter and that he has what it takes to be a world champion. It is only a matter of time before we are back in a title fight and, this time, we will seize the opportunity and claim our crown. We at Cestus Management are all winners and “Mighty” Mike Arnaoutis will prove to the world that we are all worthy of being called “world champions.”

 

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