Big heavyweight bout at OC Fair postponed

Chris Arreola will not be coming to Costa Mesa on March 9 to fight in what he called “a parking lot.”

Arreola said in January that he was never a big fan of the OC Fair and Event Center, the venue for his World Boxing Council heavyweight title elimination bout against Bermane Stiverne, yet he was willing to fight there on March 9. HBO was going to broadcast the fight, which could’ve earned Arreola a rematch with WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko.

Arreola won’t be boxing on HBO or any time soon, though.

Arreola’s first fight in a little more than a year has been postponed because he has bronchitis, his promoter, Dan Goossen, told ESPN.com.

This marks the third time the bout between Arreola (35-2 with 30 knockouts) and Stiverne (22-1-1, 20 KOs) has been postponed. They were supposed to fight in Caracas, Venezuela, in December, and then at USC’s Galen Center in January, but each of those plans fell through.

The rest of the scheduled card, which included Juan Carlos Salgado (26-1-1, 16 KOs) against Argenis Mendez (20-2, 10 KOs) for the IBF super featherweight title inside the Hangar at the OC Fair and Event Center, is up in the air.

“I’m working with HBO to keep the rest of the show together, including the title fight,” Goossen said to ESPN.com. “We’ve got some good fights on the show.”

— From staff reports