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01/04/2004 Archived Entry: "Freitas snatches title from Grigorian"
Freitas snatches title from Grigorian
Ouma overwhelms Candelo
By J.D. Vena at ringside
MASHANTUCKET PEQUOT TRIBAL NATION - It was billed as the "Clash of Two Kings." Two undefeated champions in their own right battling for a belt that has not changed hands in over seven years. The only problem was, one of the contestants was no longer fit to be king at least in this stage of his career.. In what proved to be not much of a contest, Acelino “Popo” Freitas, of Salvador, Brazil wrested the WBO lightweight title from “King” Artur Grigorian of Hamberg, Germany by outpointing him over 12 one-sided rounds. The scores, 116-107 twice and 115-108 were not indicative of what transpired last night at the Fox Theater in Foxwoods Casino. The fight, which headlined a co-featured broadcast on Showtime was dominated by Freitas.
Freitas, now 35-0 with 31 KO’s added his third world title in two weight classes. Grigorian, now 36-1 with 22 KO’s had previously made 17 title defenses since winning it back in 1996.
“He was very awkward,” said Freitas who also holds the WBO and WBA jr. lightweight titles. “I tried to bring him to the inside so I could explode.”
For Grigorian, 135, he couldn’t quite light his own fuse. Freitas, 134, was clearly too fast for the 36 year old Grigorian, who was unable to counter the in and out attack of Freitas. Whenever the two were close enough for in-fighting, Freitas would shift himself out of harm’s way or get himself caught in a clinch. From the get-go, you could tell that Freitas and his angles of attack were difficult for Grigorian to defend Freitas' wicked blows.
In the third round, Freitas unloaded murderously intended up punches, three of which landed and caused a knockdown, the most legitimate of the 4 recorded knockdowns in the fight. Grigorian regained his feet and managed to survive the round. Freitas was again credited with a knockdown in the fifth, though it appeared to be a slip.
After absorbing some heavy and sneaky right hands from Freitas in the 6th round, Freitas was again credited with a knockdown of Grigorian in the 7th round. From ringside, it appeared that Grigorian’s fall was once again from a push rather than a punch, though Grigorian was stunned a few moments earlier by another crunching right hand. Incidentally, it happened again in the 8th round.
Freitas had a point deducted from what seemed to the first infraction of low blows, that didn’t appear to be intentional. Freitas was on cruise control from that point on, but seemed to have given the 12th and final round away with excessive movement and little punching.
When asked about what money fights he would like, Freitas said that, “It’s not about the money. It’s about the glory.
In the opening featured bout on Showtime Championship Boxing, Kassim “The Dream” Ouma of West Palm Beach, FL stopped Juan Carlos Candelo at :15 of the 10th round. The win, probably the most impressive performance of his career, elevated Ouma (19-1-1 with 13 KO’s and 1 ND) to the number one spot in the IBF ratings at jr. middleweight.
Ouma, 151, began a torrid pace as early as the first round and it was clear that he was making Candelo exert more punching than he intended. In the third. Ouma hit Candelo at will, overwhelming him with straight shots and uppercuts.
Ouma slowed his attack in the next couple of rounds and in the fifth, Candelo got on track landing some terrific straight shots. Ouma however was still effective with his herky-jerky head movement, which definitely helped him whenever he elected to rest his arms. From that point on, the exceptionally conditioned Ouma began hammering Candelo without rest.
Candelo was saved by the bell after being decked by a right hook and a straight left in the 9th. Candelo tried to stay down long enough for referee Michael Ortega to make the most of his count. Though his head may have been groggy, it was nice for him not to be getting popped. Candelo was up at nine and the bell sounded a few seconds later.
Candelo’s corner probably should have done their fighter the service of throwing in the towel then but, he was allowed to continue. Orgeta ended up stopping the fight after Ouma cornered Candelo who was more or less just covering up in a neutral corner in the 10th.
Valdemir Pereira, 127, of Sao Caetano Do Sul, Brazil scored a satisfying 8th round knockout over game Rogers Mtagwa, 124, of Philadelphia. Mtagwa was downed three times, once in the first, once in the 6th and in the final round. Pereira used powerful left hook-right hand combinations to drop Mtagwa and won every round despite Mtagwa‘s refusal to stop throwing punches. After the brave Mtagwa hit the canvas in violent fashion, referee Joe Cusana waved the one-sided affair over at 2:36 of the round.
Undefeated Juliano Ramos, 141, of Sao Paulo, Brazil kept his record in tact when his relentless and mindless opponent, Antonio Ramirez was disqualified for fouling in the 6th round. Moments into the 6th round, Ramirez, 139, of Constanza, D.R. dropped Ramos with a left hook right hand combination. Ramos was clearly hurt and was pounded around the ring until falling on his fists. While Ramos was trying to get up, referee Joe Cusano was trying to separate the fighters and issue the mandatory 8-count. The only problem was Ramirez continued to blast Ramos while Cusano trying to pry him off him. Ramos eventually fell again and Cusano decided to DQ Ramirez at the 1:23 mark. Ramos will now have an asterisk next to this win, his 13th, while Ramirez will have a scar on his 20-7-6 mark.
In a thrilling tilt between light heavyweight hopefuls, Danny Batchelder won the WBA Fedalatin championship over Brazil’s previously unbeaten Laudelino Barros by 12-round split decision. Batchelder, 174, was able to land several heavy right hands, which shook the untested Barros nearly every time. At least, they were heavy to Barros who was rocked in many of what would be deciding rounds. Laudelino Barros, 175, of Bonito, Brazil seemed driven by the chants of the Brazilian crowd, worked hard to steal rounds and cut Bathelder over the left eye, but the reactions he had from being hit by Batchelderto the punches he was absorbing was telling enough for the judges and to most in attendance. Bathchelder won by scores of 116-112 twice and 113-115. Batchelder is now 21-1-1 with 11 KO’s while Barros is now 17-1 with 16 KO’s. Incidentally, Bathcelder is of Irish descent and am not sure what he’s going to do with a Fedalatin championship. But in this day and age, it’s a belt.
In the opening bout defending NABF jr. welterweight champion Terrence Cauthen, 139, of Trenton, NJ won a unanimous decision (117-111, 119-108 and 118-110) over game but out-gunned Jermaine Marks, 139, of Chicago, IL. Cauthen, a southpaw was clearly faster and more experienced than, now 9-2-3 with 6 KO’s. Marks was ineffectively aggressive whenever Cauthen wasn’t pounding him from pillar to post.
Promoter - Banner PromotionsRing Announcers - Jimmy Lennon, Jr., and M. Mark BeiroAttendance - Brazil
Replies: 1 Comment made on this article
Freitas saying Grigorian had an awkward style of fighting? I'm aware of Freitas record and who he beat. I have several of his fights on tape but his big looping punches and weird style of fighting kinda reminds me of a little George Foreman. I know he hits hard, and is fast but his awkward style of moving to one side or the other right as he throws a punch is gonna catch up to him one day. He's almost telegraphing his punches and if and when he meets someone like Floyd Mayweather Jr he's gonna leave himself wide open for a guy to crafty for him to handle.
Posted by sam_gregory@earthlink.net">Sam @ 01/04/2004 11:08 PM EST
