Boxing

Sharkie’s Machine: "Popo Or Poo Pooh?"


Photo by Tom Casino

Acelino Freitas vs. Jorge Barrios
(34-0-0-30 KO’s) (39-2-1-1NC-29 KO’s)

By Frank Gonzalez Jr.

11.08 - In South America, Brazil and Argentina are big-time rivals in the International sport of Football (that’s ‘Soccer’ to Americans).

Brazilian Acelino “Popo” Freitas defended his WBO and WBA Super Feather Weight Title this past Saturday in what turned out to be a fierce battle against little known Argentine, Jorge Barrios, who upped his stock this weekend with his show of heart and determination.

Freitas controlled and dominated Barrios in the beginning. After the 3rd round, Barrios left eye was a bloody mess, compliments of Freitas jabs. It was a nasty pair of gashes but not as bad as Heavyweight Vitali Klitschko’s cut eye was when they stopped his fight with Lennox Lewis a few weeks ago.

A few times after round three, the Doctor examined Jorge in his corner and I feared the fight would be stopped when the Doctor noticed blood in Barrios ear, saying he had a broken ear drum. When asked if he wanted to continue, Barrios said in un-Leija-like fashion, “Yes, of course I want to continue!”

Barrios bled all over the place and even wiped his bloody eye on the sleeve of the referee at times, which I thought was resourceful, but disgusting. Time showed that the cut eye wasn’t worth stopping this fight over. It would have saved Freitas the work of having to win it down the stretch. Thankfully, the show went on, sparing us all the controversy that might have followed such a stoppage.

With blood streaming out of his eye, Barrios put Freitas down in the 8th and 11th rounds but ran out of steam after getting rocked by Freitas as the bell sounded, ending the 11th that put Barrios down and left him wobbly coming into the 12th. Freitas was able to finish Barrios off with a knock down early in the 12th and then, after Barrios slipped a short moment later, he got up so wobbled and discombobulated, that referee Jorge Alonso waved him out. It wasn’t a controversial stoppage either. Barrios was out on his feet after being downed in the 12th.

Freitas had escaped with a TKO victory in a fight where he proved he could face serious adversity and still come out on top. In an era where so many “big-name” fighters hardly ever prove how they would fare in the face of real trouble, Freitas deserves credit. But, he also deserves some criticisms.

Considering how Acelino is a two belt Champion, who became a big star after winning a close battle against the very talented Cuban fighter, Joel Casamayor in January of 2002, many fans think he should not have let things get so out of hand against Barrios. Not to take anything away from Barrios’ performance but is Barrios THAT good or is Freitas overrated? Barrios’ will seemed a serious threat to Freitas’ skill.

While Freitas was clearly the superior boxer, he did eat plenty of right hands from a fighter who has a sloppy offense (punches too wide) and marginal defensive skills. Where was Popo’s straight right? He should have countered better and fought from the outside, where he was able to tag Barrios at will. He allowed Barrios to dictate the pace in too many rounds.

What made Barrios dangerous was his spirit, his belief that he could win by knock out. He was the ‘Bull’ to Freitas ‘Matador’, always coming forward, always throwing big punches and at times, chasing Acelino around the ring. Barrios showed a hell of a chin too. The crowd in attendance loved the excitement. And lets not forget the Argentine, Brazilian rivalry thing.

Barrios came close to beating Freitas, but just couldn’t close the show. After the fight was over, my scorecard read 113-113, a tie (with a 10-7 score in favor of Freitas in the 12th). But obviously, being unable to stand up straight after a slip means, ‘never mind the scores, the standing man wins’.

Miami was not in the cards for me this week, so I took in the fight as televised by Showtime, who employ one of the worst announcers I can think of in boxing, Steve Alberts. Marv Alberts he’s not!

Alberts constantly over-praised Freitas, glorifying his every move, while failing to mention much of the successes of Barrios. This type of one-sided announcing is annoying to listen to. If you lost the picture but still had audio, you’d never really know what the hell is going on in a fight being called by Alberts. You’d never know the tough time Barrios was giving Freitas, you would think it was a 12 round shut out. Alberts even referred to the knock down of Freitas in the 8th round as “sort of a slip” and practically had an orgasm praising Freitas power when he knocked Barrios down at the end of the 11th.

It’s one thing to be an enthusiastic fan of a fighter (even a house fighter) and it’s another thing to be a professional, unbiased announcer.

Alberts did the same thing during the Bojado vs. Nelson fight. You’d think Bojado was a lot more than the ordinary fighter he looked like Saturday night listening to Alberts, who rarely mentioned anything that Nelson did right. Until Showtime gets rid of the brown-nosing Steve Alberts, who insults the intelligence of fight fans, Showtime’s Boxing programs will continue to have a second rate voice. Sorry, but I had to get that off my chest.

Overall, Barrios stock went up, while Freitas left more questions than answers about his ability to stay on top of his division. Maybe Acelino was having a bad day? Maybe his personal problems including divorcing his beautiful wife got in his hair? I thought he was well conditioned and that his athleticism and late power saved him from possibly losing what might have been an interesting decision, considering the two knock downs of Freitas.

Ultimately, it was a great fight. I look forward to seeing Jorge Barrios fight again. I hope the 27-year-old Freitas watches the tape and addresses the deficiencies creeping into his style. If Acelino fought that way against Casamayor in a rematch (that Freitas seems reluctant to sign), Popo would look more like Poo Pooh and Casamayor would get his title back.

Agree or disagree?

Send comments to dshark87@hotmail.com

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