08.08.04 – By Izyaslav “Slava” Koza – Novirasputin@hotmail.com – That’s right, this is one of the few fights in the past couple of years that I can safely say has earned the honor of the title that was taken for granted in the latter half of the last century, of a “Prize Fight.” What you had was two young, hungry fighters in their primes facing each other to see who was the best, and more so than plain old leather boxing gloves, using their wills to see who can force the other to submit.
I tell you, it just doesn’t get better than that, and what makes it even more unique and special is that it happened in the midst of fights that are in a word, just pathetic. In order to truly not ruin the magnificent contest I saw tonight, I wont go further then to say, its high time somebody got off their ass, and put themselves on the line.
In looking back at this win for Diego Corrales, nobody can cheapen it with remarks such as “Freitas was too old,” or “Freitas has a weak chin (yeah, dusting Barrios after being knocked down really proves that one, right?)” or “Freitas’s wife was sick, so he wasn’t a hundred percent.” Leave that crap at home along with that stupid American Express Card, whoever the hell you are. Chico was simply the better man, and he was the better man of a really great fighter who came into the fight with a really decent win that would have paid off had he used it properly.
What I really like about Freitas is in his last couple of fights he reinvented himself. He is quicker than Madonna with that ridiculous British accent. Since everybody saw him as your typical “mini Mike” or in other words a huge puncher, he decided to add another form of attack to his game plan. The reasoning, I think, is simple, in that he was young enough to pull it off, and two it made him much more difficult to analyze. In other words, he rightly assumed that some young scrapper, or wily Veteran, was bound to figure out his puncher/Finisher mentality, and exploit it to his advantage. For example, like what happened with Mike Tyson being exploited by Holyfield. Freitas also saw that he would have to be taken further into his fights as he stepped up the competition, and would need to rely on movement more so then on punching.
Freitas’ plan was to create an awkward moving fighter with superb firepower, being able to fire on a dime. To some degree, it worked until he met another reinvented fighter in Diego Corrales.
Ever since I saw Chico put down five times versus Pretty Boy Floyd, I just automatically assumed he was an over-hyped puncher with one-dimensional ability. Unfortunately for my ego, I was dead wrong, and am actually happy because of that. Corrales proved himself twice this year against fighters that I previously thought he didn’t have enough to prove himself against, and at least in my eyes, that makes him worthy of fighter of the year honors. The guy went in twice this year with the odds against him, got up against Casamayor to win a rightly deserved decision, and outlasted Freitas in a brilliant tactical and action packed contest. I think that unless by some miracle, Antonio Tarver knocks out Vitali Klitschko, no fighter even comes close in terms of accomplishment (at least yet).
THE FIGHT
The fight itself was a brilliant contest from the very start. Freitas went in with a very decent strategy that I thought he used incorrectly, and had he done so might have gone on to get the decision. The problem was that Freitas wanted to become a full on movement type boxer overnight. Yea he did it against Grigorian, but that was against an older guy, with limited power, and a referee who didn’t how the hell to do his job right, which ultimately meshed to work in Freitas’s favor. However what about the other 30 plus fights where he was a pure puncher? You can’t switch up like that and not expect their to be some repercussions. Freitas should have boxed in spurts and in between held his hands high, and relied on his power. To me it just seemed that from the get go Acelino conceded that Corrales has the bigger punch, and was too cautious. I actually think that up to the series of KD’s Freitas was hitting Corrales with the more telling blows and should have pressed more rather then exert all that energy on movement.
Corrales, on the other hand, rightly played his part to perfection. He cut off the ring beautifully, moving in almost perfect rhythm with the dodgy Freitas, and forcing him into exchanges that would be costly for Freitas as the fight wore on.
In the beginning of the fight, Freitas was clearly winning in my eyes, but it was evident that if Corrales would keep up the same calm, steady pressure, Freitas would be forced into exchanges that would hurt him. Freitas, instead, decided to avoid them full speed, and counter when possible. While this was clearly effective in the first half of the fight, by the second half Freitas was already slowing down, and thoughtlessly, not covering his head. At the same time, Corrales was more conditioned, and more than ready to sit down on his punches. Another thing that I observed about Freitas was that he was just not conditioned enough mentally, and perhaps physically to follow through with his game plan.
After the first knockdown, Freitas blatantly spit out his mouthpiece, which angered Corrales’ corner. The tactic was not a bad one, however, is seemed poorly executed, just like Freitas’ game plan. In terms of mouthpiece spitting incident, any good fighter should know that to correctly not suffer repercussions for the tactic, they’re supposed to make it look like an accident. For example, half hold it in your mouth like your trying to breath and then slowly let it go, while at the same time, attempting to catch it with your hands. That way, the referee assumes you lost it accidentally and did not mean to try and stall for time. Unfortunately, Freitas again tried to execute the maneuver in the second, and most pretty knockdown, losing a point in the process for poor blatant technique in spitting out his mouthpiece.
However, the outcome was academic, as Steve Farhood said, seeing as Freitas would quit in the following round of the fight, looking up to the sky after waving his glove to say he had enough. This little act did put a sour taste in my mouth, considering that in a true prize fight, a TKO victim better be out on his feet or flat on his back, yet I am confident that had Freitas not quit, that is exactly what the relentless Corrales would do to him.
Diego mentioned that after the fight was over, he always had faith in his abilities, and in earnest, I can’t help but believe him. The guy never quit, even after a brilliant three punch combination by Freitas that looked about as pretty as Pam Anderson in a wet T shirt.
What else can I say, but “Thanks, Diego, you proved me wrong, and I love you for that. You’re a true prize fighter, and you beat another one this Saturday night. Respect and good luck, your what makes boxing a great sport.”
P.S. As of right now, Corrales flat out deserves to be awarded the fighter of the year from anybody and everybody who awards this dubious honor.
Thoughts?