The date is April 28 - a Saturday Night HBO "After Dark" lightweight unification affair that could very well light up the joint - and bring the paying clientele at the Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Connecticut out of its seats.

Circle it on the calendar - it’s young WBA champ Juan "Baby Bull" Diaz - undefeated in 31 prior kept appointments with 15 KOs, in with past fan favorite and WBO belt holder Acelino "Popo" Freitas with 38 wins and a single loss on the resumé.

For this veteran fight watcher, what stamped Diaz as special was the July 17, 2004 title win for the WBA bauble against a skilled and durable Lavka Sim - as in prior televised fights this one saw Diaz adding defensive skills coupled with the aggressive style that earned him the "Baby Bull" sobriquet.

No flair, no Hollywood, a throwback fighter of years gone by - the skills have grown with the physical maturity - outing after outing something new would surface - went from brawler in style to a more search and destroy approach, and today at age 23 he’s displayed solid defense, while continuing in a fan friendly power punching approach.

Expect an early test for this La Motta look-a-like in style, before likely closing the curtain sometime late via TKO.

Freitas a whole different animal - physically strong with good punching power - became a big hit early on when first surfacing here from Brazil - clearly an early threat .

Still fresh in body at age 31 - but not the bomber he was back on August of  2003 when he stopped a tough cookie in Jorge Rodrigo Barrios in stanza 12 - but then a year later on August of 2004 a serious setback.

The ill-fated meeting pitted Freitas with hard punching Diego Corrales - one that had "rest of the story" written over it - well ahead on points entering deep water he’s then taken out in stanza ten.

Clearly visible to those in attendance was a Freitas fighting change of demeanor with the tough guy image MIA - it was a "Popo" brand of stick and counter - but one that failed to stimulate the pro-Freitas fan in attendance.

Awkward and unorthodox, round after round he had the better on the scorecards - Corrales would finally catch up to a Freitas version of Hoya in the Trinidad fight - and come stanza ten Freitas was ready to call it a night.

Somehow, Freitas would resurface and snatch a WBO title bout with past prospect turned fraud in Zahir Raheem - date was April 29, 2006 - for the record this one stunk out the joint - resulted in split decision title winner for Freitas.
Closing comments ~ what this scribbler (and Juan Diaz supporter) would have preferred being penciled in for Diaz was a unification with A) (IBF) strap holder Julio Diaz (if only to zipper the mouth) - B) other unifiers then could include winner of a  (WBC) Jose Armando Santa Cruz vs. Acelino Freitas.

P.S. ~ Find it difficult to see Juan Diaz in a HBO "After Dark" title defense when he clearly has earned HBO Saturday Special, Showtime Saturday Special recognition - with the entitled stipend that lesser skilled but better connected ones enjoy.

GEL  -