Calling his proposed bout with Chris Arreola “a crossroads fight for both of us,” once-beaten heavyweight Seth Mitchell said that he is “expecting the best Arreola” if and when they meet at Fantasy Sports Casino in Indio, Calif.

Dan Goossen, the promoter for Arreola (35-3, 30 knockouts), said that a deal is close for his fighter to face Mitchell (26-1-1, 19 knockouts) on Sept. 6 on Showtime.

“That’s what we’re training for. We’re in agreement, we’re just working out a few things,” said Goossen. “I think that it’s going to be a great heavyweight fight, and I think that it’s like the old days. It’s the way that a heavyweight fight should be matched.”

Mitchell, of Brandywine, Md., would be taking on Arreola in a location that is less than 90 minutes from Arreola’s home town of Riverside.

“It’s at Fantasy Springs in his back yard, or whatever, but I’m not worried about it, man. I’ve seen crazy decisions but I don’t think that this fight is going to the scorecards anyway,” said Mitchell.

“I think that it’s going to be an exciting fight. It’s a fight that I wanted a year ago. But everything happens for a reason. It’s happening now. I’m going to be well-prepared and I’m excited about the fight.”

Coming off June’s unanimous decision over Johnathon Banks that avenged a second-round stoppage loss in November, Mitchell and promoter Golden Boy are close to finalizing the deal to face Arreola, who had surgery in May to repair a broken nose suffered during April’s unanimous-decision loss to Bermane Stiverne.

“It doesn’t matter what his game plan is. I’ve seen all of his fights,” Mitchell said. “Chris Arreola, he’s a brawler. He’s going to come. One thing is for sure, you had better be in shape when you fight him, because he definitely comes. Even when he’s tired, he comes forward and throws punches. His punch out-put may not be as much, but he’s still coming forward. That’s what I’m looking for. But if he wants to box, then we can box. It doesn’t matter to me.

“But one thing that I am expecting is the best Chris Arreola. I look at this as a crossroads fight for both of us. He’s coming off of a loss, and I just avenged my loss to Johnatnon Banks. But a loss here, and that win against Johnathon Banks means nothing. So I’m expecting the best Chris Arreola. I’m expecting him to be in shape. He knows that this is a do or die fight for him, and I feel the same way for me. It has all of the ingredients for a very entertaining fight.”

Goossen agreed, although, he declined to call the matchup “do-or-die.”

“There’s always a lot on the line when you’re at this level but I don’t necessarily believe that it’s a do or die situation. Obviously, the winner has a lot more to gain than the loser,” said Goossen.

“But both of them are real fighters, so when you’re real fighters, opportunity crops up again. Case in point, Tony Thompson. Although it’s a very important fight for both fighters, not necessarily do or die.”

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]