I was disappointed when I heard that he gained weight, but at the same time I wasn't really surprised though.
There is a chance that Arreola's weight won't affect his performance. If Arreola ends up sucking wind in the later rounds then the old saying "fights are won and lost in the gym" will be quite appropriate. Minto is a good opponent, he tries hard and, no pun intended, Minto seems hungrier than Arreola. I think 218lbs is a good weight for Brian. I get the impression that Brian wants the win more and Arreola may be too overconfident. This is going to be a case of Natural Talent with little discipline vs Mr. Tenacity with a lot of discipline. I suppose if one is inclined to bet on an upset underdog victory this is a good fight to make that bet. I'm going to definitely tune in. This fight could be kind of a Michael Moorer-Frans Botha type deal.
The problem is that he keeps getting fatter. He weighed 230 not long ago which was a much more acceptable weight. He obviously doesn't train enough, he needs a new trainer to kick some discipline into him otherwise he can't ever become a contender, let alone a world champion.
Yeah, that "extra layer" that "some folks have naturally"; that layer is called blubber & the people who have it naturally don't do much cardio or watch what they eat. I saw pics of Arreola as an amateur. He actually had definition & was slim. To be serious, though, I know what you mean. James Toney is another guy without the lean & ripped genetics, but you can clearly tell when Toney has been conditioning himself properly & when he hasn't. The same, of course, is true of Arreola & anyone else...