It's an opportunity every young fighter dreams of: performing on a major pay-per-view card in Las Vegas. 26-year-old Luis "Cuba" Arias (17-0, 8 KOs) is no exception, and next month this dream comes to fruition when he faces Russian Arif Magomedov (18-1, 11 KOs) on the televised undercard for Ward vs. Kovalev 2 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on June 17. Similarly, the fact that Arias has toiled and sacrificed for years is not unique among fighters; so while this may be the first time many of the Ward-Kovalev viewers have seen the USBA middleweight title holder, it's not because he just arrived. He's been here for years, working and waiting for his chance to showcase his skills on the big stage.
"It feels good," Arias said, when asked how it feels to be fighting on this card. "Honestly I feel like it's a little overdue. I've fought on pay-per-view cards before, I just never got that TV slot. I always felt like I deserved it, but I never got it. But to finally get it, it's just a relief-finally, like this is paying off, you know? I'm excited. I'm ready to put on a show."
Arias was confident when discussing his opponent. "I know he's been beat before. Obviously I know he's tough, he has a good record, he has a good knockout ratio. But someone's cracked his code. He's already been beat. So I know I've got to prepare for some type of a fight, but I'm not fighting someone who's unbeatable because he's already been beat. It's already been done, so it can be done again."
The Milwaukee native with Cuban roots had a tremendous amateur career, racking up a total of 140 wins and 25 losses. He began boxing at age 7 and piled up the achievements, including being ranked #1 in Men's amateur boxing in 2010 and winning two USA Men's National Championships in 2009 and 2010. He turned professional in late 2012, but his experience in the high-level amateurs at such a young age had a significant impact on him.
That impact includes the way Arias trains as a pro. "I train the exact same way [for any opponent]. In the amateurs, I'm used to fighting all different types of styles. I just try to focus on what I do best."
Arias has been training with John David Jackson since early 2016. Jackson, the well-known head trainer for former light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev, is currently busy preparing both Kovalev and Arias for their performances on the same card on June 17.
"We train in south Florida," said Arias. "The plan is to go out to Cali to meet [Kovalev], so [Jackson] is gonna go out there and set up shop.
"It's been going well. John's a two-time former world champion and given his experience being at that level, it helps me a lot, and it's good to have on your team. He's a world champion and he's also worked with world champions. And we click-he's a great trainer. He doesn't try to change anything about me. We've been working together for the last 2-3 weeks for this fight, and it's going good, it's going as planned."
At 5'11" tall, Luis is a bit taller than the average middleweight. When combined with solid boxing skills, size advantages can make a big difference in the ring, particularly during the crucial contender stage of a fighter's career. "Given that I'm usually the bigger man [it] gives me a mental edge," Arias said. "When I go into these fights at the middleweight division, I feel like a lot of these guys are a lot smaller than me. So when I'm fighting you, just knowing you're smaller than me, I'm gonna try to hurt you more. I've been hurting a lot of these guys at this weight.
"Since I fought at 160, I've been pretty much stopping everybody. I just feel a lot more confident, a lot stronger. On average I'm usually the bigger guy. And it works in my favor because June 17th I'm gonna be the bigger guy as well. So that's gonna work to my advantage."
While Arias tends to fight in the pocket, he displays solid defensive skills-he makes good use of slips, rolls shots off his shoulder, and moves his head to avoid punches. When asked about how his defense developed over time, he said, "Honestly, as I got into the pros, I tried to step it up more. I always felt like my defense was a little under-rated, but I didn't always work on it like I do [now]. But once you step into this game, the gloves are smaller, these guys are grown men, they're going more rounds so
you're taking more shots. So now I've been working on my defense, and just trying to master my defense as good as possible in the pros. So it's been something that I've been developing over the last couple years."
Luis counts all-time greats Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad, and Roberto Duran among his biggest boxing inspirations. "With Duran, I picked up an admiration for [him] these last couple years in the pros-I tried to mimic his style, then I ran into one of his trainers out here [in Florida]. Panama Lewis. He'd be down here.
"But De La Hoya and Trinidad I remember growing up, their huge fight. De La Hoya was an Olympic gold medalist--I always wanted to be an Olympic gold medalist. De La Hoya came out and became a superstar after the Olympics-got the sponsors, was everywhere, you know-I always wanted to be a star just like [him]. Trinidad was a huge Puerto Rican star, had the whole country behind him. I like fighters like that. Now, I like Roman Gonzalez, Chocolatito, I like what he's doing over there in Nicaragua and what an impact he's had, and what he's doing with his career. I look up to him. I appreciate a lot of top fighters, especially hall-of-famers, because I want to reach that level."
Every fighter prepares differently come fight night. As with any profession, everyone has a different take on how they get ready to do their job. On top of that, everyone draws their energy from different things. Arias has his own routine. "I like listening to music. I'm always listening to music. I gotta get turnt up, you know? I gotta feel the music. Hip-hop, whatever's popular on the radio for the most part.
"Usually I call my mom before the fights. My dad, I call my people. I just try to stay as relaxed as possible."
Luis' biggest motivation comes in the form of his two-year-old daughter. "Honestly, my daughter really motivates me more than I thought. Even when I'm working out, I'll be thinking, 'Man, she's gonna want expensive stuff. She's gonna want this, or she's gonna want that. You'll want to get her these nice things, you better run these miles.' I try to keep her in mind a lot."
Regarding his next big opportunity on the Ward-Kovelev 2 undercard, Arias is ready. "I've been fighting my entire life, so I know what I've got to do to be ready at this stage, and come June 17th I'll be ready."
Ward vs. Kovalev 2 will be presented live on HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00pm ET/6:00pm PT on Saturday, June 17.
Follow Luis "Cuba" Arias on Twitter @luiscubaarias, Instagram @luiscubaarias, and Facebook.
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