I understand that with anything we do in life, the more reps (repetitions) you have, the better you get; that being said, HBO’s new Boxing After Dark crew needs more reps. If they don’t get better, they will lose even more viewers than they already have. For starters, Max Kellerman’s scoring system is a joke, his card was wrong but it was how he was deciding who was winning the rounds which must be fixed.  For some reason, and it’s probably because he is a big Pernell Whitaker fan that he scores this way, however it’s wrong.  Two or three Zahir Raheem jabs shouldn’t win the round, especially when he was getting tagged with right hands in the process. Also to cut off Lennox Lewis and tell him what a fighter should and shouldn’t do is a huge no-no. I know that you can do better, Max. Build your skills.  

     However Max’s scoring wasn’t the worst part of the night and in a round about way I think his card may have been affected by this next jackass.  Without a doubt the most horrific thing about the new Boxing After Dark crew was and will be Fran Charles. Anytime Zahir Raheem did anything, even after getting hit, Charles was being a cheerleader.  What’s up Fran?  You did that same nonsense back when you called that joke of a boxing series KO Nation and you are doing it now. Stop it, it’s not right or fair to the fighters, the fans, and the sport. Your job isn’t to root for the Black fighter… that shit was completely uncalled for Saturday night, and leads some of the viewers who don’t know any better astray. You should go back and watch the tape of yourself and see how you called the fight in favor of Raheem. I know you were wrong on half the nonsense you called as big punches and also you should have to write the Freitas camp a letter of apology.  I said it before and I’ll say it again, you need to find a different sport and be the play by play guy if this is how you are going to call fights. Obviously, you still haven’t improved separating your personal bias from calling fights. 

     To me, Lennox Lewis was the only sane guy Saturday Night and even he said some of the right hands that Freitas were landing could have carried the day, in the judges' eyes. I just wish Lennox was more stern and blunt about his points and not let Charles and Kellerman decide the pace. I still can’t believe Kellerman was cutting in on Lewis to make a point about punching leverage.  

     From the outset of the fight it was clear Acelino Freitas had faster hands and was able to land his straight right hand numerous times. Zahir Raheem was trying to get his jab going but the fight actually produced more hugging than a high school prom… which is great if you're 16-18 years old but it sucks if you’re a fan of boxing other than the heavyweight division.

     Still, as ugly as the fight may have been, it seems that Freitas' right hand carried 4 maybe 5 of the early rounds. It wasn’t until the middle rounds that Raheem seemed to start to take over the pace of the fight but Freitas closed the show winning rounds 10, 11, and 12. Jabs should beat rights unless you land a ton of them like Wright did vs. Trinidad. However if you get out hit with right hands then you have a serious problem.  The fact that the fight was a split decision, I can live with it; although it looked clear on TV that Freitas won the fight. 

     Zahir Raheem who now falls to 27-2 16 KO’s will have to wait in line to see what happens, but he does have the skills to be the lightweight champion, the only question is will he get a shot. Although I did feel he lost this fight Saturday Night both losses in his professional career have come by close, disputed decisions. Acelino Freitas who improves to 38-1 with 32 KO’s most likely will get a crack at -and even get cracked- by the winner of Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo later in the year. For now tip your hat to him, he came back to the same building where he suffered his only professional loss at the hands of Diego Corrales and righted the ship.

Questions and comments can be emailed to Aladdin Freeman

4-29-2006