By Jake Donovan

Given the hype surrounding his rise to heavyweight contention, Chris Arreola has never been forced to settle for the B-side other than in his three shots at a major title.

Saturday’s bout versus unbeaten contender Adam Kownacki marks the first time in a non-title fight where he has been relegated to such status, with the bout taking place at Barclays Center in Kownacki’s Brooklyn (N.Y.) home base.

It’s a risk the 38-year old is willing to take if it ultimately leads to one more crack at putting a heavyweight belt around his waist—because the alternative is to just call it a career.

“No disrespect to anybody, no disrespect to Adam because he’s a great fighter but… personally, man if I lose, there’s no more reason for me to be in the sport of boxing,” Arreola (38-5-1, 33KOs) admitted during a recent media conference call to discuss Saturday’s Fox-TV headliner. “I’m in boxing to be a champion.”

“If I lose, it brings me all the way back to the bottom. I don’t want to be clawing back up again, I’m too old to be doing that, man.”

Arreola actually reached that point following his third failed bid at becoming the first-ever heavyweight of Mexican descent to claim a heavyweight crown. An 8th round stoppage loss to unbeaten—and still-reigning—titlist Deontay Wilder in July 2016 appeared to be the end of the road for the hulking Californian.

More than two years went by before he decided to give it one more try, fittingly returning on the undercard of a Wilder title defense (his 12-round draw versus Tyson Fury) last December in Los Angeles.

An indication of just how far from grace Arreola had fallen was the backdrop for his comeback fight, a 6th round stoppage of journeyman Maurenzo Smith. Most of the crowd had long filed out of the Staples Center by the time the two entered the ring, though it still counts as an official win—his first of two straight heading into this weekend’s affair.

Less than five months after stopping previously unbeaten Jean Pierre Augustin in the 3rd round of a Fox Sports Pay-Per-View preliminary bout in Dallas, Tex., comes his first headlining act in more than three years—albeit on the other side of the marquee.

“It’s the circle of life, everything goes around,” notes Arreola, who has also lost title fights to Vitali Klitschko and Bermane Stiverne, both ending in stoppage defeats. “I was once the young lion and now I’m the old veteran. Thank God, I feel like a young lion.”

The proof will be in the pudding on Saturday night—and he knows it.

“It’s a make-or-break night of boxing, it’s win-or-go-home,” acknowledges Arreola. “I’m not prepared to retire no time soon.

“I know Adam has worked his butt off, I’ve worked hard, too.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox