As for the strengths, Arreola showed that near the end of the fight as he nailed Abell with a perfect right hand that sent Abell reeling into the rope and followed with a effective combination that had Abell helpless on the rope.  Abell holding on to the rope prevented him from going down but there was no doubt, Abell was in trouble.  The referee stepped in to prevent further damage and Arreola had his first round knockout. 

It is hard to say what this fight proved. Abell, like Arreola, had 10 first round knockouts going into the fight and 26 stoppages in 27 victories but much of his competition were weaker when contrasted with Arreola.  Having fought on the Midwest circuit, the native Minnesotan fighter found himself fighting higher level of competition that he was used to and Abell was not ready for primetime. 

Arreola did what he needed to do when faced with an inferior opponent, knock his opponent out quickly.  As for Arreola, he came into the fight slightly under 250 pounds, the first time that has happened in nearly three years.  The real key for Arreola is how he builds on this victory.  Abell was not a top ten heavyweight, much less a top twenty, so it is hard to say if Arreola had turned the corner or simply overwhelmed an inferior opponent with an inflated record. 

For Arreola, his career has taken a tumbled as he is now fighting on ESPN as a means to get back to the HBO and Showtime venues.  The real test comes when Arreola fights a real contender but right now, he is merely trying to keep his career from further slippage. 

Shawn Estrada fought another Minnesota fighter, Jon Schmitt.  Like his fellow Midwestern fighter, Abell, Schmitt had a record that looked gaudy but mostly against weak competition.  Estrada simply knocked Schmitt down three times and that was that.  Estrada has yet to make a big jump in competition and this fight simply showed, he can splatter weak competition but consistently facing weak competition doesn’t prepare you for the long movement into contender status. 

The most intriguing fight of the Friday night ESPN card was the quick handed and undefeated Mike Dallas facing the rugged Jose Lopez.  Dallas' advantage was his quick hands and when he kept the fight in the middle of the ring, he nailed Lopez with solid shots. Lopez pressured Dallas and in the third round, he trapped the young fighter on the rope consistently.  When trapped on the rope, Dallas could not effectively punch off the rope.  This was evident in the third round and in subsequent rounds after that.   

For most of the fight, Dallas would start the round quickly with quick combinations in an attempt to set the pace and distance but by the end of the round, Lopez often forced Dallas to the rope where he unleashed body shots to go with head shots.    Going into the seventh round, Dallas' foot movement slowed down and his quick hands were just a bit slower due to Lopez’s pressure tactics; tactics that tired the young fighter.