Tag: Chris Colbert vs Jaime Arboleda

Chris Colbert made his statement.

The junior lightweight contender predicted he would knock out Jaime Arboleda on Saturday night and he delivered, stopping his Panamanian foe in the 11^th round of a fight he had dominated.

Colbert (15-0, 6 KOs) is known for his boxing skills but wanted to demonstrate that he can also hurt his opponents. He did so several times at the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Conn.

Arboleda, supposedly a big puncher, threw more punches than Colbert but the latter landed the harder, cleaner shots. That was case whether the fighters stood toe-to-toe or Colbert took pot shots from the outside, whether Colbert fought from an orthodox stance or a southpaw.

Colbert took the fight out of Arboleda (16-2, 13 KOs) in the final seconds of Round 9, when he put the loser down with a left hook.

In Round 10, Arboleda didn’t fight with the aggression he had in the previous nine rounds and Colbert picked him apart. Then, in Round 11, Arboleda went down from a flurry of shots, got up and went down again from a combination.

Arboleda got up once again but he was hurt. Colbert unloaded one more barrage of hard punches, prompting referee Steve Willis to stop it. The official time was 1:37 of Round 11.

In preliminary bouts, junior welterweight prospect Richardson Hitchins (12-0, 5 KOs) defeated Argenis Mendez (25-6-3, 12 KOs) by a split decision in a 10-round junior welterweight fight.

And Ronald Ellis (18-1-2, 12 KOs) defeated Matvey Korobov (28-4-1, 14 KOs) when Korobov injured his Achilles tendon and couldn’t continue after five rounds.

 

Chris Colbert isn’t concerned about his knockout percentage.

The gifted junior lightweight contender is slick, like a Pernell Whitaker or Floyd Mayweather, not a powerful puncher, at least according to the numbers. He’s 14-0, with only five knockouts. And he’s OK with that as long as he continues to win.

Colbert faces Jaime Arboleda (16-1, 13 KOs) on Saturday at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. (Showtime)

“Knockouts aren’t important,” he told Boxing Junkie this week. “The name of the game is boxing. I understand that knockouts make you more money, make you more noticeable to people, but the name of the game is hit and not be hit.

“That’s what I’m good at. And I have fun doing it.”

In fact, Arboleda is the one with the high knockout percentage. That doesn’t faze Colbert, who said he’s accustomed to sparring with bigger fighters and has had no issues in the gym.

One reason for that: They can’t hit him cleanly. He expects more of the same when he faces Arboleda, a 26-year-old Panamanian based in Miami.

“I’ve fought big guys, I’ve sparred with big, strong guys,” he said. “I’m prepared for anything they bring. They say [Arboleda] has power. That’s never something I’m worried about.

“You can’t hit what you can’t see. To use that power, I have to be at the end of the punch. That’s not going to happen.”

If anything, Colbert said, he might have a surprise for Arboleda.

The 24-year-old product of Brooklyn is coming off a wide decision over Jezreel Corrales in January but put Corrales down in the 10th round and, in the bout before that, he stopped Miguel Beltran Jr. in the first round.

[lawrence-related id=16228,5279]

Obviously, he has the ability to hurt anyone with the right punch. And, in fact, he said he’s “coming to shock the world” on Saturday. Does that mean he’s predicting a knockout of Arboleda? “Yeah, that’s what I’m saying,” he said.

That might have something to do with how he’s feeling.

“I have to wait and see come this fight, to see what the power is like,” he said. “I feel like I got a little big stronger. Honestly, I’ve been hurting guys the last couple of fights. I knocked them out or dropped them.

“I feel like my man strength is coming in. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to be known as a knockout artist. I’m known for beating people.”

Chris Colbert isn’t concerned about his knockout percentage.

The gifted junior lightweight contender is slick, like a Pernell Whitaker or Floyd Mayweather, not a powerful puncher, at least according to the numbers. He’s 14-0, with only five knockouts. And he’s OK with that as long as he continues to win.

Colbert faces Jaime Arboleda (16-1, 13 KOs) on Saturday at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. (Showtime)

“Knockouts aren’t important,” he told Boxing Junkie this week. “The name of the game is boxing. I understand that knockouts make you more money, make you more noticeable to people, but the name of the game is hit and not be hit.

“That’s what I’m good at. And I have fun doing it.”

In fact, Arboleda is the one with the high knockout percentage. That doesn’t faze Colbert, who said he’s accustomed to sparring with bigger fighters and has had no issues in the gym.

One reason for that: They can’t hit him cleanly. He expects more of the same when he faces Arboleda, a 26-year-old Panamanian based in Miami.

“I’ve fought big guys, I’ve sparred with big, strong guys,” he said. “I’m prepared for anything they bring. They say [Arboleda] has power. That’s never something I’m worried about.

“You can’t hit what you can’t see. To use that power, I have to be at the end of the punch. That’s not going to happen.”

If anything, Colbert said, he might have a surprise for Arboleda.

The 24-year-old product of Brooklyn is coming off a wide decision over Jezreel Corrales in January but put Corrales down in the 10th round and, in the bout before that, he stopped Miguel Beltran Jr. in the first round.

[lawrence-related id=16228,5279]

Obviously, he has the ability to hurt anyone with the right punch. And, in fact, he said he’s “coming to shock the world” on Saturday. Does that mean he’s predicting a knockout of Arboleda? “Yeah, that’s what I’m saying,” he said.

That might have something to do with how he’s feeling.

“I have to wait and see come this fight, to see what the power is like,” he said. “I feel like I got a little big stronger. Honestly, I’ve been hurting guys the last couple of fights. I knocked them out or dropped them.

“I feel like my man strength is coming in. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to be known as a knockout artist. I’m known for beating people.”