Sharkie’s Machine
By Frank Gonzalez Jr.
April 28th, 2007
“Acelino Freitas Quits Against Juan Diaz”
Congratulations to WBA Lightweight Champion, Juan “The Baby Bull” Diaz, who
improved his unbeaten record to 32-0, with 16 KO’s and added the WBO Title to
his currency after unmanning former Champion, Acelino “Popo” Freitas (38-2, 32
KO’s), who quit on his stool after eight rounds up at the Foxwoods Casino in
Connecticut Saturday night.
With his wildly unorthodox style, Freitas was winning all his fights by
knockout prior to his UD win over Alfred Kotey in September of 2001. His most
exciting fight had to be his battle against Argentina’s Jorge Barrios, who put
Freitas down in the eighth and the eleventh rounds. Freitas came back and put
Barrios down in the eleventh and twelfth to go on and win that fight by TKO
12.
The 31 year-old Freitas has been on the decline since being KOed by Diego
Corrales back in August of 2004 in a fight where Freitas was knocked down
three times and then quit on his stool after the tenth round. It’s an
irrelevant coincidence, but Mike Ortega was the referee in both fights that
saw Freitas quit on his stool.
Another interesting note is that all three Judges who scored his Freitas vs.
Zahir Raheem, were on hand Saturday night to score the Diaz vs. Freitas fight.
Coincidence? Maybe, strange—definitely.
23 year-old Juan Diaz of Houston Texas has been brought along very slowly and
carefully. Turning pro at 17, he has faced his share of also-rans and has
cultivated an undefeated record in the process. With the combination of
tenacious punching and careful match making, he has been able to keep the WBA
Title for two years without defending against a top fighter. Freitas is not a
top fighter anymore (hasn’t bee for a couple of years actually) but
is by far the biggest name brand fighter on Diaz’ resumé so far.
I didn’t expect too much from Diaz, considering the quality of his list of
past opponents but he showed good stamina and consistency in his offense
against Acelino Freitas, who only owned the WBA Lightweight Title because of a
gift decision over Zahir Raheem in April of 2006.
Diaz proved to be stronger and more aggressive than Freitas, who managed to
win the first two rounds with cleaner punches and a lot of mobility. But by
the third round, Freitas was already breathing heavily and looking spent in
his corner after Diaz won his first round with the more consistent pressure
that saw him land some pretty good power jabs and a few combinations. Diaz was
realizing that Freitas only real defense was to run. Freitas scored well
enough in the fourth to just barely take that round but it was obvious that
his stamina, or lack thereof, wouldn’t carry him through 12 rounds.
Diaz stepped it up in the fifth round by pressing Freitas into the ropes and
smothering him with punches that were often landing. He rocked Freitas with a
combination that staggered him backwards and looked like the beginning of
the end for Popo. Diaz didn’t keep the pressure on enough and Freitas escaped
the fifth.
By the sixth, Freitas punches had lost their steam and he was out of gas. Diaz
kept pressing him into the ropes and unleashing barrages of punches. In the
seventh, Freitas kept finding himself against the ropes and unable to
effectively counter Diaz’ pressure offense. After the round, Diaz wasn’t even
breathing heavy while Freitas looked ready for an oxygen mask.
The eighth round was more of the same, with Freitas running backwards and Diaz
pressing and punching. A Diaz left ripped into Freitas, who was again, against
the ropes and looking very vulnerable to being knocked out.
After the eighth round, Freitas quit on his stool. It was over, Diaz had won
by TKO 8. For some reason, Freitas people picked him up and paraded him around
the ring as if he’d won. Strange. Had he kept fighting and been
knocked out, it would’ve been less painful to his legacy than quitting on his
stool a second time. It looks like the Acelino Freitas show is over.*
During the post fight interview, Diaz said all the right things and
when asked whom he really would like to fight he said Manny Pacquiao would be
his dream fight. He also said he wants to fight all the Champions in his
division.
Now, there are three fighters named Diaz who own three of the four most
recognized Titles. David Diaz (WBC Interim), Julio Diaz (IBF) and Juan Diaz
(WBA and WBO). Joel Casamayor (WBC) also figures in the picture even though
he’s not fought since October of last year and is not currently scheduled to
fight anyone as far as I know.
Casamayor is possibly the best “boxer” of the lot but his lack of activity may
prove problematic. David Diaz hasn’t fought since August of last year so he
may also be the rustiest of the lot.
IBF Champ, Julio Diaz, has been calling out Juan Diaz to fight for quite some
time with no result. Julio Diaz vs. Juan Diaz would be an interesting match up
because Julio is taller, a skillful boxer with good power and Juan appears to
have developed into a solid pressure fighter with a powerful jab to compliment
his aggressive ring demeanor and respectable stamina.
Being that boxing is the only sport that has no unified champions in any
division, it would be productive if the “powers that be” mandate that the
Champions duke it out and allow the one REAL Champion to emerge from the
rubble—at least in one division! But there’s too much money to be made by the
sanctioning bodies the way things are, so don’t hold your breath.
* * *
Comments can be emailed to Sharkie
