Chris Arreola wants title shot, Omar Figueroa wants PBC respected

Chris Arreola (36-4-1) hopes to land a third heavyweight championship bout when he faces his former sparring partner, Travis Kauffman (30-1-0), in San Antonio on Saturday.

Riverside’s Arreola has been stopped short in two previous attempts to become the first heavyweight champion of Latino descent, losing to Vitali Klitschko at Staples Center in 2009 and getting stopped by Bermane Stiverne for the vacant World Boxing Council title last year at Galen Center.

Arreola’s aware his performance in Saturday’s bout is vital for any chance to make the third time a charm.

Mike Battah, the promoter for the Premier Boxing Champions card at AT&T Center, said he believes Arreola will be in line to fight WBC champion Deontay Wilder, who has a Jan. 16 date against heavy underdog Artur Szpilka in Brooklyn.

“I have to win convincingly,” Arreola told The Times in a telephone interview.

“I have to kick his [rear], there’s no in between. There’s no win by decision, no draw, or anything like that. I have to win.”

The heavyweight landscape has been turned upside down with the recent upset of Wladimir Klitschko by Tyson Fury and the emergence of Wilder.

“I believe he’s going to try to box me,” Arreola said. “He says he wants a war. Trust me, he doesn’t want a war with me because it will be a quick little battle.”

Both fighters are casual friends outside of the ring, but understand they have to set their friendship aside.

“I’m sure once the fight’s over, we can have some beers together, but he might have to drink his through a straw,” Arreola said.

Promoter Battah is enthused about the card that features a full day of fights starting at 3 p.m. Pacific time on NBC Sports Network, goes to NBC at 5 p.m., then back to NBCSN at 8 p.m.

Junior-welterweight Omar Figueroa will headline the NBC card against veteran Antonio DeMarco.

Figueroa argued that criticism aimed at powerful fight manager Al Haymon’s PBC for too often using fight dates as showcases for their prospects and standouts rather than creating more toe-to-toe wars isn’t valid.

“That goes on everywhere. Everyone pinpoints it on PBC because Al Haymon is doing it,” Figueroa said. “[Oscar De La Hoya’s] Golden Boy has done that for years. [Bob Arum’s] Top Rank has done that for years and years. Don King did that ... it’s something that happens in boxing: You have an ‘A’ fighter and you have a ‘B’ fighter, obviously you’re trying to showcase your ‘A’ fighter.

“It’s rare that a promoter puts up two ‘A’ fighters and they hope that the better one wins, or that it’s a good fight or whatnot. You can’t speculate on that kind of stuff ... it depends on how the fighters will show up that night. Are they injured?”

For instance, former lightweight world champion Figueroa (25-0-1, 18 knockouts) said he was plagued by a broken right hand before his May 9 unanimous-decision victory over Ricky Burns.

“I know I didn’t look great, but did people know that? No,” Figueroa said.

“Regardless of it’s a true test or just a showcase or if they paid DeMarco to fall in the third round, I’m going to throw 300 punches in those three rounds and make it the best possible, most entertaining fight for the fans. That’s what truly matters. I don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. I don’t know how DeMarco is feeling, but I know how I’m feeling: damn good. I was injury free throughout camp. I’m going to showcase myself because I work hard to do that, not because the fight was rigged.”

Former lightweight champion DeMarco, 29, has lost three of his last six fights, but he owns victories over Jorge Linares and John Molina.

“It’s not an easy challenge, and those that say fighters are pushovers have never been in the ring and have never had to prepare for a fight to the full extent: mentally, physically, spiritually,” Figueroa said. “I can’t see it from the casual boxing fan’s view, but I wish they could see that from my view.”