MIAMI
(Aug. 10, 2003) - Heading into the final three minutes
with his titles and undefeated record hanging in the
balance, Acelino "Popo" Freitas successfully
defended his World Boxing Association (WBA)/World
Boxing Organization (WBO) 130-pound crowns for the
third time by scoring a dramatic 12-round TKO over WBA
& WBO No. 2 contender, Jorge Rodrigo Barrios,
Saturday on SHOWTIME.
In one of the co-features, North American Boxing
Federation (NABF) Welterweight Champion Teddy Reid
retained his title for the second time by knocking
down WBA FEDECENTRO Welterweight Champion Elio Ortiz
five times en route to tallying a fourth-round TKO.
World Boxing Council (WBC) Youth Champion Francisco
"Panchito" Bojado rounded out the telecast
by registering a 10-round unanimous decision over
National Boxing Association (NBA) Lightweight Champion
Lemuel Nelson. Banner Promotions promoted the
bouts, which aired at 10 p.m. ET/PT from Miami Arena.
Freitas (34-0, 31 KOs), of Salvador, Brazil, rallied
from a punishing 11th-round knockdown to keep his
perfect record intact. After Barrios landed a
punishing left-right combination to send the champion
to the canvas early in round 11, Freitas regained his
composure and floored the challenger as the bell
sounded to end the stanza. In theng
seconds of the final round, Freitas smelled the
victory and knocked Barrios down for the third and
final time. The brave challenger managed to rise
from the canvas, but slipped soon after. Referee
Jorge Alonso decided he had seen enough and waved the
fight off at :50 of round 12.
Appearing on SHOWTIME for the sixth time, Freitas, who
captured the WBA belt with a victory over previously
unbeaten Joel Casamayor on SHOWTIME Jan. 12, 2002,
made his third WBA and 10th WBO defense. In his
last outing on March 15, 2003, Freitas retained his
titles by scoring a fourth-round TKO over Juan Carlos
Ramirez on SHOWTIME from Chicago. The undefeated
knockout artist closed out the 2002 campaign on Aug. 3
in Phoenix by registering a 12-round decision over WBO
No. 1 contender Daniel Attah on SHOWTIME.
Freitas captured the WBO title on Aug. 7, 1999, with a
first-round knockout over Anatoly Alexandrov in Cannet,
France.
Barrios (39-2-1, 29 KOs), of Buenos Aires, Argentina,
survived a brutal cut over his left eye and a bloody
ear to come within one round of winning the WBO and
WBA 130-pound titles. Entering the 12th round,
the judges had the bout scored even. Guy
Jutras had it 106-104 for Barrios, Dennis Nelson saw
it 106-103 in favor of Freitas, while Peter Trematerra
had the bout scored 105 apiece. Despite
suffering an early cut, the challenger overcame an
eighth-round knockdown to floor the champion in the
11th. Barrios won the WBO Latin American
130-pound crown by tallying an 11th-round TKO over
Javier Alvarez on Aug. 24, 2002, in Montevideo,
Uruguay. Two months later on Oct. 26, 2002, the
once-beaten brawler added the vacant Argentine super
featherweight title to his resume with a six-round
technical win over Carlos Rios.
Reid (22-5-1, 16 KOs), of Baltimore, by way of St.
Elizabeth, Jamaica, appeared to be on his way to an
early victory when he floored Ortiz three times in the
first four minutes of the contest. After his
opponent regained his legs, Reid ended the see-saw
battle with two more knockdowns in the fourth.
Following Ortiz' fifth trip to the canvas late in the
fourth, referee Bill Connors waved the fight off with
two seconds remaining in the round. Reid won the
vacant NABF welterweight title by scoring a
third-round TKO over Germaine Sanders on June 28,
2002, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Reid
previously captured the North American Boxing
Association (NABA) and United States Boxing
Association (USBA) 140-pound crowns in 1991 and 2001,
respectively.
Ortiz (24-6, 18 KOs), of Falcon, Venezuela,
miraculously recovered from sure defeat to briefly
take control of the title bout by winning the third
round on each of the judge's scorecards. Ortiz
tallied a 12-round unanimous decision over Marco
Avendano on July 28, 2001, to capture the WBA
FEDECENTRO welterweight crown in Coro, Venezuela.
In his lone title defense, Ortiz stopped Presente
Brito in the fourth round on July 6, 2002, from
Caracas, Venezuela.
Bojado (13-1, 11 KOs), of Los Angeles, by way of
Guadalajara, Mexico, had little trouble in gaining his
13th victory in 14 outings. Despite failing to
knock out only his third opponent, Bojado earned the
unanimous decision by the scores 99-90 twice and
98-91. The once-beaten 20-year-old made his 10th
SHOWTIME appearance, including highlights, in 14 pro
bouts. Bojado captured his first pro title, the
World Boxing Council (WBC) junior welterweight youth
crown, on Oct. 13, 2001, with a second-round TKO
over Eleazar Contreras on SHOWTIME.
Nelson (25-7-1, 13 KOs), of Pensacola, Fla., stunned
Bojado in theng round and managed to land a
number of decent shots in his home state. The
Florida native, who did not go down in the bout,
captured the vacant NBA lightweight crown with a
seventh-round TKO over Johnny West on Sept. 7, 2002,
in Portland, Ore.
SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING's Steve Albert and Al
Bernstein called the action from ringside with Jim
Gray serving as roving reporter. The executive
producer of the SHOWTIME telecast was Jay Larkin, with
David Dinkins Jr. producing and Bob Dunphy directing.
For information on upcoming SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP
BOXING and "ShoBox: The New Generation"
telecasts, including complete fighter bios and
records, related stories and more, please go the
SHOWTIME website at http://www.sho.com/boxing
Photos by Tom Casino
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