Boxing

WBO: Acelino Is Just 'Super'

By Paul-John Ramos

06.10 - If it wasn't for the WBO, we'd have no idea that Acelino Freitas is an excellent fighter. As if there aren't enough alphabet titles floating around, the Puerto Rican-based World Boxing Organization has devised another way to confuse mainstream fans. The WBO revealed new symptoms of Title Belt Mania by naming Freitas its junior lightweight "super champion" on Friday.

A press conference was held in San Juan, where WBO president Francisco Valcárcel jumped on the WBA's bandwagon of elevating "super champions" above regular "champions" in each division. The WBO "super championship" belt will be awarded to ten-time defenders of a regular "championship," after which they need only face one mandatory opponent every 18 months. Freitas, 34-0 (31), who took the WBO strap in 1998, is considered the world's best at 130 pounds after his January 2002 defeat of Joel Casamayor.

The World Boxing Association owns dubious credit for "super" titles, heeding advice from Lennox Lewis while John Ruiz was masquerading as legitimate heavyweight champion. The WBA has since used its moniker to full economic advantage, raising fighters such as Roy Jones Jr., Bernard Hopkins, Kostya Tszyu, and Freitas to "super" champion while hosting bouts for regular old "championships." A WBA champion becomes "super" champion when he unifies his strap with any from the WBC, IBF, or WBO. The WBO has naturally caught on to this idea, aware that unified champs must divide time, attention, and most importantly, money between organizations.

The WBO's newest title only gives more encouragement to fighters hiding behind belts and avoiding serious opposition in the ring. Freitas, who has been guilty of mismatches to "protect" the WBO and WBA titles, is now in an even better position to stall popular-demand matchups with Erik Morales, Diego Corrales, and Casamayor. Roy Jones Jr. and Bernard Hopkins, unified holders of the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles, have also been criticized over recent months for fighting mandatories instead of top opponents. But regardless of fighter politics, the WBO's decision to make Freitas "super" was a clear grope for more sanctioning dollars, especially with the Brazilian looking to unify all four major belts and spend less time in the WBO limelight at 130.

The WBO is considered the smallest of boxing's four major sanctioning bodies and its titles are usually viewed as steppingstones to the WBC, WBA, and IBF versions.

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