(Sports Network) - Quick...somebody call Joe Namath!

More than 40 years after he officially passed the word "guarantee" into the sports lexicon, yet another athlete is taking it and running on the eve of a big event.

But unlike "Broadway Joe" and his New York Jets teammates in 1969, I'm not so sure the latest purveyor of lead-pipe cinch victory is going to have quite as much to savor.

Brash contender Chris Arreola, the rotund slugger from Riverside, Calif. upon whom many have hung the term "best American heavyweight," gets his crack at world supremacy later this month when WBC champion Vitali Klitschko risks his title at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

And, in keeping with the Namath road map, Arreola - a prohibitive underdog in most betting circles - not only predicted he'll show up and compete with the 38-year-old Ukrainian export, he promised a fool-the-experts win.

Namath, for those somehow unaware, quarterbacked a double-digit underdog Jets team past the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, just days after guaranteeing a win at a pre-game media event.

As of midday Thursday on betus.com, an $800 wager on a Klitschko triumph would be required to win $100, while a $100 bet on Arreola would net $550 if an upset occurs.

"I guarantee that it's going to be an exciting fight and I guarantee that I'm going to come out with the world title and I'll work my ass off," he said at a Wednesday workout, while laughingly sidestepping claims that his oft-cited weight is again hovering somewhere north of viable.

"I'm gonna win this fight. I'm gonna do it. The only thing I can do is go in there and put on a great fight for the fans in Los Angeles."

Arreola, the WBC's No. 1 challenger to Klitschko even with zero career wins against anyone now ranked in its Top 20, was last active in April when he stopped three-time world title challenger Jameel McCline in four rounds on the Paul Williams-Winky Wright undercard in Las Vegas.

He tipped the scales at 255 pounds that night, marking the third straight fight in which he'd exceeded 250 after melting down to 239 for a breakthrough three-round stoppage of previously unbeaten Chazz Witherspoon 15 months ago in Memphis.

Arreola said Wednesday that conditioning won't be an issue on fight night.

Though not exactly convincingly.

"Am I in the best shape of my life? Come Sept. 26, I will be," he said. "We still have two-and-a-half more weeks left of training and I'll be there. There's still a little bit more work to do. Come fight time, I'll be ready to go 12 rounds.

"According to all the internet Web sites, I'm weighing upwards of 280 or something like that. You know what? Right now I weigh in the low 260s. Come fight time, I'm probably going to be 200. Everything is going really good.

"I'm just adapting to working out twice a day. It's a hard thing and my body is still getting used to it."

Getting used to it?

Just wait 'til you see this Klitschko guy.

Suddenly rejuvenated after a four-year ring exodus, the older brother of the IBO/IBF/WBO champion has reeled off two straight impressive wins, pummeling Samuel Peter and Juan Carlos Gomez into submission over 17 rounds in October 2008 and March 2009.

His two previous trips to L.A. have yielded mixed success - most recently an eighth-round TKO of Corrie Sanders in 2004, and, 10 months earlier, a six- round pitched battle with Lennox Lewis that ended with Klitschko's face a bloody mess from a gruesome left-eye cut.

In fact, the Lewis fight, regardless of result, prompted as much respect for the 6-foot-7 right-hander - menacingly nicknamed "Dr. Ironfist" - as he'd garnered over 33 previous outings in what was then a seven-year pro career.

His only other loss was a ninth-round TKO to Chris Byrd in 2000.

"This is heavyweight boxing. It's two punchers. No one knows what will happen, that's why I prepare to finish the fight inside 12 rounds," Klitschko said. "But I am ready to fight all 12 rounds. I am ready for anything that can happen. I'm an old man. I have pain. But don't worry. I'm feeling much better.

"I had a good performance against Peter. I stopped Gomez. I will do the same against Arreola."

I'm no Angelo Dundee, but I've got one piece of advice, Chris.

Be afraid, man. Be very afraid.

* * * * * * * * * *

This week's title-fight schedule:

SATURDAY

IBO super featherweight title - Kempton Park, South Africa

Zolani Marali (champion) vs. Ji Hoon Kim (No. 25 contender)

Marali (20-2, 13 KO): First title defense; Held IBO title at 122 pounds (2003-04)

Kim (18-5, 15 KO): First title defense; Won 10 straight since 2006 (10-0, 9 KO)

FitzHitz says: Marali by decision

WBA super middleweight title - Herning, Denmark

Mikkel Kessler (champion) vs. Gusmyr Perdomo (No. 1 contender)

Kessler (41-1, 31 KO): Second title defense, second WBA reign; Seven title- fight wins (7-1, 5 KO)

Perdomo (16-2, 10 KO): First title fight; Unbeaten since 2007 (2-0, 2 KO)

FitzHitz says: Kessler in 9

WBO mini-flyweight title - Tepic, Mexico

Donnie Nietes (champion) vs. Manuel Vargas (interim champion)

Nietes (24-1-3, 14 KO): Third title defense; Unbeaten since 2004 (13-0-2, 6 KO)

Vargas (26-3-1, 11 KO): First title fight; Two-fight win streak (2-0, 1 KO)

FitzHitz says: Nietes by decision

WBO bantamweight title - Tepic, Mexico

Fernando Montiel (champion) vs. Alejandro Valdez (unranked)

Montiel (39-2-1, 29 KO): First title defense; Former WBO champion at 112 and 115 pounds

Valdez (21-3-2, 15 KO): Second title fight; Lost WBC title shot in 2008 (KO 2)

FitzHitz says: Montiel by decision

WBO junior flyweight title - Hato Rey, Puerto Rico

Ivan Calderon (champion) vs. Rodel Mayol (No. 1 contender)

Calderon (32-0-1, 6 KO): Fifth title defense; Unbeaten in 17 title fights (16-0-1, 2 KO)

Mayol (25-3-1, 19 KO): Fourth title fight; Technical draw with Calderon in

June 2009

FitzHitz says: Calderon by decision

WBO junior lightweight title - Hato Rey, Puerto Rico

Roman Martinez (champion) vs. Vicente Martin Rodriguez (No. 9 contender)

Martinez (22-0-1, 13 KO): First title defense; Won 15 straight fights since 2003 (15-0, 8 KO)

Rodriguez (25-2-1, 13 KO): First title fight; Unbeaten since 2008 (4-0-1, 3 KO)

FitzHitz says: Martinez in 10

TUESDAY

Vacant IBF junior bantamweight title - Cancun, Mexico

Simphiwe Nongqayi (No. 1 contender) vs. Jorge Arce (No. 3 contender)

Nongqayi (15-0, 6 KO): First title fight; Beat Arce�s brother in last fight

Arce (52-5-1, 40 KO): Former WBC/WBO champ at 108 pounds; Ten title-fight wins (10-3, 8 KO)

FitzHitz says: Arce in 10

WBC super featherweight title - Cancun, Mexico

Humberto Soto (champion) vs. Aristides Perez (unranked) Soto (48-7-2, 31 KO): Third title defense; Unbeaten in Mexico since 2000 (21-0, 18 KO)

Perez (15-0-1, 8 KO): First title fight; First fight outside Colombia

FitzHitz says: Soto in 4

WBC light flyweight title - Puebla, Mexico

Edgar Sosa (champion) vs. Omar Soto (unranked) Sosa (36-5, 20 KO): Tenth title defense; Unbeaten since 2003 (24-0, 16 KO)

Soto (14-3-1, 6 KO): First title fight; Three wins in last six fights (3-3, 1 KO)

FitzHitz says: Sosa in 6

Last week's picks: 1-0

Overall picks record: 124-46 (72.9 percent)



Lyle Fitzsimmons is an award-winning 20-year sports journalist, a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and a frequent contributor to Stone Cold Sports on the MVN Network (stonecoldsports.com) and several sports radio talk shows throughout the U.S. E-mail him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him at twitter.com/fitzbitz.



Copyright 2009 The Sports Network
All rights reserved

 Email To Friend