Boxing

Juan Diaz Stops Acelino Freitas

By Wray Edwards: Photos © Wray Edwards/ESB

Last night at the Foxwoods Piquat Casino Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut, the WBA Lightweight World Champion Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz stopped the WBO Champion Acelino Freitas when Po Po’s corner called a halt to the action after eight rounds. It was a series of rounds in which very concentrated action was the rule. Freitas landed some pretty good shots only to have Diaz bore in with accurate, head-rocking retributions.

Generally, Juan was coming forward about ninety per cent of the time as Acelino tried to stay at boxing range from which he countered pretty well for about the first four rounds. Then during each successive round Po Po’s punches began to lose pop, started to wing, and increasingly left him vulnerable to Juan’s counters which were escalating in power and frequency. Every now and then Freitas would man-up with great effort and deploy some hits, but these efforts came farther apart with each round from the fifth through the eighth. The following photos portray what was a wild and entertaining event:

Diaz vs Freitas

Freitas entered the ring with his right glove raised high to salute his many fans.

Diaz vs Freitas

He also posed for the last time with his WBO cummerbund raised above his head.

Diaz vs Freitas

Juan Diaz entered the ring calm and collected in his cool blue jacket.

Diaz vs Freitas

As stated above, Freitas got in some shots, but not enough to gain an advantage.

Diaz vs Freitas

Mostly Diaz moved in with aggressive feints, effective counters and accurate leads.

Diaz vs Freitas

As he stood for each round, Juan was clear-eyed, calm and purposeful. His corner was organized and low key.

Diaz vs Freitas

Increasingly, Freitas punches were mostly avoided by Juan’s upper body movement.

Diaz vs Freitas

Acelino’s corner did their best refresh and encourage him to soldier on under very difficult circumstances. The SRO crowd was roaring approval with the constant action.

Diaz vs Freitas

Just before the bell to start the Ninth Round one of Freitas’ corner crew approached the ref at the center of the ring to declare Acelino unwilling or unable to answer the bell. Word had it that his crew reasoned with Po Po to see that his chances were fading and his risks were increasing. OK, so he didn’t go out on his shield, but after such a career and all he has given to the sport and his fans, it is hard to criticize. He was raised up to celebrate his effort which caused the crowd to boo quite a bit.

Diaz vs Freitas

Meanwhile, Diaz was swarmed as HBO tried to pry him loose from his celebrants to conduct his victory interview.

Diaz vs Freitas

Then into the ring comes Joel “El Cepillo” Casamayor to hug and praise Juan with, undoubtedly, the purpose to imply his interest in the possibility of something more aggressive than a mere hug. Joel’s win over Corrales placed him for a time as the WBC titular champion, and even though he has been nominally stripped, he must still figure very heavily in the future calculations of team Diaz.

Diaz vs Freitas

As PO PO sat with his trainer at the post-fight news conference table, it was obvious that he had just been through a pretty severe reality check. You can see it in his eyes.

Diaz vs Freitas

Soon though, Acelino rose to his feet and stepped over to Juan with genuine pleasure and admiration to congratulate the new WBO Champion.

Diaz vs Freitas

Then East Side Boxing requested that Willie Savannah and Juan lift up his old and new belts for a photo op. Willie and Juan gave us all a good chance to record the moment.

Diaz vs Freitas

Juan’s father was basking in the glow of his son’s victory and was given a big ovation for raising such a brave young man.

Diaz vs Freitas

Mr. King introduced Travis Simms for some face time with the media.

Diaz vs Freitas

As Casamayor exited the arena he was mobbed by admirers and well-wishers.

Diaz vs Freitas

The guys in the room were very thankful for the round card messenger’s excellent work.

Diaz vs Freitas

Amid such wild and violent moments, it is quite refreshing and differently exciting to have such stunning visions of loveliness to fill in the blanks.

East Side Boxing would like to thank Ms. Boyd, Ms. Rios and especially Mr. Larry Byron for giving us the opportunity to cover this event and totally enjoy the world-class media buffet. The Piquat Tribe’s management of the entire event was professional and a remarkable achievement considering the crush of fans, media and contestants.

Ibragimov-Briggs is not far off. See you at the fights.

Juan Diaz, a "Baby" Bull no more! Big time win over Freitas answers all the questions

Juan Diaz

By Mike Indri, Retired Boxers Foundation - Photos by Richie Maldonado

Mashantucket, Conn. - While in New York earlier this month, Juan "Baby Bull" Diaz explained his reason for sporting a trimmed beard and moustache. "I'm not a sixteen-year-old kid anymore, I'm a world champion and I'm going to prove I'm a man," reasoned the humble and extremely likable twenty-three-year-old college student, who just happens to be the World Boxing Association's lightweight champion.

Under the caring and watchful eye of seasoned head trainer/manager Willie Savannah, Diaz's boxing career had been brought along at a much more guarded and slower pace than the Houston native would have liked, and the 135pounder has endured all the skeptics who've wondered aloud about the young fighter's quality of opposition, his supposed lack of punching power and his ability to rise to the occasion against the elite fighters in the division.

The junior University of Houston pre-law major aced the test Saturday night at the Foxwoods Resort Casino with his eight round technical knockout victory over Acelino Freitas, during their WBA/WBO lightweight world title unification bout, dethroning the Brazilian legend.

From the opening bell both fighters were determined to establish control, as both champions had something to prove.

Diaz, as aforementioned, yearned to silence his critics and prove that he belonged with the best. Freitas, the current World Boxing Organization champion and a four-time world titleholder, needed to confirm that he still was among the best and also carried the stigma of his TKO loss to Diego Corrales, at this very same Foxwoods arena in 2004.

The ferocious pace which Diaz and Freitas battled at only accentuated the memorable 100th boxing event at Foxwoods and the real winners were the 3,150 in attendance, as well as the HBO television audience.

Delighting the partisan Brazilian crowd, who were in support of their "Popo", Freitas landed often and enjoyed the better of the exchanges while in the center of the ring. Diaz banged away in workman-like fashion and made his opponent work extremely hard with a feverish attack and severe pressure. Freitas managed to hold off the bullish aggression of his younger foe for the early portion of the first few rounds but as the non-stop battle continued it was Diaz who was landing the more telling blows and Freitas who was growing weary.

Back and forth through round five, Diaz then ate a Freitas uppercut that would have dropped most fighters. Proving his chin and heart, Diaz then connected with several hurtful bombs, which truly stunned Freitas; whose look of concern spells trouble for "Team Freitas".

As close a fight as could be judged at the midway point, Diaz continues to drive Freitas to the ropes and digs away at the body. While both guys are fighting hard, and providing great action, it's the punches by Diaz which have the most effect and the capacity crowd senses the passing of the torch.

As the fateful eighth round began Diaz forged forward, getting tagged by several feeble punches. Pouncing on his drained rival, Diaz pounded away, sending Freitas reeling into the ropes and landed several clean, crisp head shots. Freitas tried to hold on and gasped for air, applying the only defense he now had which was to throw punches. As the bell ended the round, Diaz's best, Freitas staggered back to his corner.

The gracious champion was met by his trainer and dear friend, Oscar Saurez, who would not allow his fighter to continue and advised referee Mike Ortega, that Freitas (38-2, 32 KO's) was unable to come out for round nine.

"It was my decision to stop the fight," Saurez stated afterwards. "You can't sit by and let a young man get punished. I will never let him (Freitas) get hurt in my life."

Juan Diaz

A tremendous fight and a great effort by both fighters, Diaz (32-0, 16 KO's) has proved his worthiness and now has his sights set on the division's other champions, Joel Casamayor (WBC), who was in attendance, and Julio Diaz (IBF), in hopes to truly unify the title.

"A true champion is one that has all the belts," a jubilant Diaz exclaimed. "I want to unify the division and I will fight anyone, Casamayor, Hatton, even Pacquiao. It's up to my manager."

In the co-feature bout of the evening Super Featherweight Agnaldo Nunez retained his NABF and NABA titles with a razor close twelve round majority decision over veteran Carlos Navarro. Nunez (17-1-1, 7 KO's) was a bit quicker and sharper with his punches. Swelling Navarro's left eye shut from a stinging right hand, the Brazilian fighter boxed well and jumped out to an early lead in the bout. Navarro, now fighting out of Las Vegas, never quit and made it close by finding the range for his jab and several bigger right hands, which did leave it's mark on the right side Nunez's face.

The championship rounds saw Nunez turn up the effective aggression and this enabled the thirty-one-year-old boxer to prevail in the close battle of southpaws. The hard fought victory by Nunez may have earned the technically sound fighter a shot at a world title in the near future.

On the Foxwoods "Centennial Fight" undercard:

Russian jr. welterweight Ruslan Prodovdnikov opened up the show in commanding fashion, scoring a first round technical knockout over Antoine Barrett, in a scheduled four round bout. While never going down, the Khanty-Mansiysk native hurt Barrett midway through the opening stanza, and continued an offensive assault that forced the stoppage at the 2:33 mark. Barrett remains winless, 0-3, while Prodovdnikov stays unbeaten, 3-0, (2 KO's).

In a six round battle of heavyweights Aleksey Soloviev, from Cheboksary, Russia scored a unanimous decision win over Philadelphia's Levon Warner. Warner falls to 6-4-2 (1 KO) with the unimpressive showing, while Soloviev improves his deceiving 12-0 (7 KO's) pro record.

The capacity crowd was next treated to a hard fought, closely contested middleweight battle, which was broadcast internationally, between Brazilian Isaac Rodrigues and Hollister Elliott, fighting out of Dorchester, Mass. Trading power shots and going toe-to-toe for the four rounds, Rodrigues captured a majority decision against the 45-year-old Elliott. Elliot drops to 7-19-1 (2 KO's), while the Belen do Para fighter climbs to 8-0. The crafty Elliott, much better than his record would indicate, did earn some bragging rights by becoming the first fighter to go the distance with the heavy handed Rodrigues.

In the two "walk-out" bouts, undefeated heavyweight prospect Bermaine Stiverne, now 12-0 (12 KO's), savagely ended the night for journeyman Earl Ladson at the 2:10 mark of the third round. A headshot, which Ladson never saw, sent the North Carolina fighter (12-16-1, 7 KO's) to the canvas were he remained motionless for several minutes. After receiving immediate medical attention, Ladson did regain his consciousness and left the ring on his own accord.

Middleweight Sergio Rivera (1-0) worked his way to a four round unanimous decision win against Donny Dukes (0-1). All three judges agreed on the 40-36 score. Rivera, from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Dukes, a native of Albany, NY both were making their pro debut.

Acelino Freitas Quits After Eight Rounds With Juan Diaz

April 29th, 2007 - By Frank Gonzalez Jr. - 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 been for a couple of years actually) but is by far the biggest name brand fighter on Diaz’ resume 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. 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, 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.

 


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