Jack Welsh
www.ringsports.com

It took some time to prove his point, but Brazil’s Acelino “Popo” Freitas convinced even his strongest Latin detractors there is no heavier puncher in this hemisphere the other night in Miami, patiently fracturing Argentina’s Jorge Rodrigo Barrios to retain his WBA/ WBO super featherweight crown.

It was a long-awaited grudge match with no phony script as Freitas had to get off the floor twice before finding the accuracy that left the brawling, mauling
Barrios blood-smeared from cuts around his left eye and a fractured right eardrum bleeding.

Barrios, repeatedly lunging when he arched his punches, dropped Freitas with a left in the eighth round, the dual champion more embarrassed than hurt. The arch rivals alternating winning the ninth and tenth rounds.

Early in the 11th, Barrios dropped Freitas with a right but after a breather getting his mouthpiece back, Freitas caught his bleeding tormentor with several combinations and an instant before the bell, Brazil’s undefeated hero hammered Barrios with a devastating right to the jaw.
It was the kind of shot “Popo” had been trying to land all night. Upon impact, Barrios was visibly coming apart at the seams, much like a marionette with broken strings. With the left side of his face a crimson mask, Barrios was out of it but got erect as referee Jose Alonso gave him an automatic count.

Ringsiders couldn’t know the judges’ scoring with one round left. Freitas led 106-103 with one judge while another had Barrios ahead 106-104. The third judge had it 105-105. But it was all academic.

Perhaps the referee should have stopped it after the 11th.The valiant Barrios could hardly get off his stool to answer the bell for the 12th round. Freitas rushed out with a right cross, dropping Barrios at mid-ring. The spent challenger just managed to rise but immediately dropped to the canvas without taking a
punch and Alonso called it off 50 seconds into the round.

Freitas, improving to 34-0, 31 K0s, had predicted an early knockout, perhaps as early as round three, but the popular Latin admitted it was “one of my toughest fights as a professional.”

“Barrios is a difficult fighter with his style so I needed a couple of rounds. My corner knew the value of the knockdowns. I wanted to be careful but I felt we were ahead. There was bad blood but when I didn’t get that early knockout, I decided to punish him. I guess everybody expected an early knockout, but I always train for 12 rounds. I have a great trainer in Oscar Suarez and I was ready for anything,” Freitas reflected.

Barrios, whose log dipped to 39-2-1, 29 KOs, went in as the WBA/WBO No.2 contender despite coming out of South America as one of the most unorthodox fighters to be seen recently in a United States ring.

“I didn’t see those right hands coming and I felt was winning the fight despite my eye cuts. They checked me after the seventh round and I was hoping they wouldn’t stop the fight since it was for two world championships. Maybe we can do it again,” Barrios said.

Artie Pelullo of Banner Promotions in Philadelphia who has Freitas under contract, is rarely against a rematch when two all-action guys like the WBA-WBO champion and his worthy challenger bring it all down to the wire.

However, the innovative Pelullo may have some other fish to fry later in the year.

Particularly, since the Freitas-Barrios war also gives new significance to Joel Casamayor vs. Diego “Chico” Corrales in their 12-round junior lightweight special Oct.4 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center where former four-time heavyweight champion Evander Holylfield faces IBF cruiserweight ruler James Toney in the 12-round main event.

The winner of Casamayor-Corrales looms as a natural for Freitas if he wants to return to America for a fourth title defense early in 2004.

Casamayor, now 29-1,18 KOs with a permanent home in Miami, might have a tad more incentive about getting a shot at Freitas since he lost the WBA title to the slick Brazilian on a close decision Jan.12, 2002 in Las Vegas. The Cuban standout has gone 3-0 since and is the WBA’s No.1 130-pound
challenger.

Corrales, with a 37-1, 31 KOs record, is a former IBF130-pound king out of Sacramento, Ca. He
made three defenses before losing the crown in a
showdown with undefeated Floyd Mayweather, Jr., on a10th round TKO on Jan.20, 2001 in Las Vegas.

Since launching a comeback earlier this year, Corrales has posted four straight KOs.

When Showtime’s Jim Gray asked Pelullo about the Casamayor-Corrales victor getting a shot at Freitas, the affable promoter smiled, “They have my number.”

TALENT HUNT:....With Oscar La Hoya in the twilight of a mega-rich brilliant career, promoter Bob Arum doesn’t figure to come up short in nailing blue chip prospects for Top Rank’s boxing roster in that first step to stardom.

Since defecting frøm New York almost 20 years ago to put his headquarters in Las Vegas, the innovative Arum doesn’t think east coast until there is a biggie on the horizon.

Well, there was indeed a biggie in the offing last week when Arum’s staffers arrived in Philadelphia to announce the signing of undefeated welterweight Anthony “The Messenger” Thompson.

Why not jet the new face to the Valley of the Dollars for a hype festival. No way, Jose! The 21-year old Thompson is a product of North Philadelphia and that is the perfect environment for the drum-beating Arum had in mind.

This pleasant young man was the scourge of amateur boxing from 1998 to 2002, with a 151-9 record and then turned pro to go 11-0, 8 KOs under the banner of Cedric Kushner. Thompson had no quarrels with Kushner other than the lack of TV dates. The door was ajar, so manager Cameron Duncan paid a
reported $140,000 for the contract and delivered Thompson to Arum.

Top Rank’s chairman has been known to reach high exaggeration in hype if he has an obsession to promote and the personable Thompson is the latest candidate.

During a press conference at the Wachovia Center, Arum lauded Thompson “as a talent that could becomes the greatest fighter Philadelphia has ever produced.”

“I remember all those great middleweights during the Marvelous Marvin Hagler era. Bennie Brisco, Boogaloo Watts, Willie “The Worm” Monroe, Cyclone Hart, and Matthew Saad Muhammad. Great , great fighters. And of course, I was also around Joe Frazier, so I know what a great fighter he was. More recently, you had Bernard Hopkins, who is very, very good,” Arum reviewed.

I couldn’t make the trip back to Philly but I appreciate some of the dialogue of Arum and Thompson, which was passed on to me by Top Rank publicists Lee Samuels and Fred Sternburg.

Arum said Thompson’s first fight for Top Rank will be in Reno, Aug.15 on ESPN 2 and then he will appear in Las Vegas Sept.12, the night before De La Hoya faces Sugar Shane Mosley in their rematch at the MGM Grand Garden.

“I understand Bob Arum is playing off of Philadelphia’s boxing history. The way I see it, the public will get tired of seeing me, or they will love me.
I’m not going to let the undue pressure bother me, “ Thompson said. “Remember when Bob Arum said I could be the best ever-fighter in Philadelphia, those are his words, not mine. But I will be trying hard to fill those big shoes.”

LAST WORD:......Now it’s the count down to the first bell as Laila Ali and Christy Martin put on the finishing touches to their 10-round bout with the formers IBA super middleweight crown on the line when they vie Aug.23 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mi., with CSI Sports televising the action on US pay-per-view (cable and satellite) starting at 6 p.m. PDT

It is reportedly the richest women’s boxing match in history with Ali and Martin both earning $250,000 in this confrontation where the winner emerges as the undisputed icon in the distaff sport.

Ali, 25, daughter of the legendary Muhammad Ali, comes in with a 25-0, 12 KOs resume and according to Nevada’s licensed bookmakers, the statuesque boxer is a 3-1 favorite, marking the first time Martin, 35, is the underdog despite her 45-2-2, 30 KOs,
record in a pairing where the catch weights are 162
pounds.

According to the fight contract, Martin cannot be outweighed by more than 11 pounds. However, that may be difficult to achieve according to the heralded opponents’ physical differences.

Ali is 5’10” and a natural 168 pounds while Martin is 5’4” and has never been heavier than 147 in her 15-year pro career.

In the last year, the feud between Laila and Christy has developed into pure contempt. Both have complained about the other’s lack of respect.

Ali isn’t impressed that Martin has reportedly trained as intensely as in the early days of her pro career at her headquarters in Orlando, Fla.

“I’m not concerned about losing to Martin because that just isn’t going to happen. I’m a much more skilled fighter than she is and I have far more in my arsenal. I took this fight because I wanted to show the masses how far I’ve come,” said the IBA champion.

“I think if you are going to be an athlete and be serious about what you are doing, then you have to fight the best people out there. I don’t see this fight as that big of a deal. Christy says she is going to put pressure on me from the first bell. As small as she is, how is she going to do that anyway?”

Martin, one of the few millionaire earners in women’s boxing, says “I have never forgotten where I came from.”

“I have always taken pride in being the people’s champion. I think the fans can relate to me because I am one of them. I have always tried to represent the working man, the blue collar guy. I worked hard to be the No1.female and fought the best out there
to stay at the top,” Martin reflected.

“It kind of ticks me off someone like Laila has ridden her father’s coattails to get a fight with me. If you look at her record, you’ll see the opponents are all softies and cupcakes to build her up.

Laila hasn’t proved or earned anything. She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and it’s time someone like me knocked it clean out.”