In the best performance of his young career, Juan "Baby Bull" Diaz battered Acelino "Popo" Freitas into submission, forcing his corner to stop the onslaught at the end of the 8th round. As I predicted, Diaz’s volume punching and fighting spirit was ultimately too much for a fighter like Freitas.
Although the fight was fairly competitive for the first six rounds, you could easily see the frustration mounting for Freitas once he realized that Diaz was going to be there all night, in his face and throwing leather. After being staggered, mainly from the mental and physical fatigue created by Diaz’s constant pressure, we witnessed a once-proud champion wilt before our very own eyes.
In what is hopefully his swan song, Freitas went out like a chump, not a champ. It’s a shame to see a fighter who was once a fearless puncher denigrate into a passive counter-puncher. To make matters worse, "Popo" has now "retired" in two major fights (once before against Diego Corrales).
Fortunately for Freitas, he has a lovely wife, an 18-month old baby, and an adoring nation (Brazil) still in his corner. They often say that once a fighter speaks of retirement, his career is unofficially over. This appears to be the case with Freitas, who had briefly retired prior to this title fight, and had seemingly lost his competitive zeal after the Joel Casamyor lightweight unification bout a few years ago.
Let’s hope Freitas stays retired, for his own health as well as his family’s peace of mind. It’s safe to say that the sports world is a "baby bull market" right now, given the success of Juan Diaz and Chicago’s basketball franchise.
The sky is the limit for Juan Diaz, as he looks forward to official recognition as the lightweight champion of the world by challenging the tricky, veteran southpaw, Joel Casamayor, sometime in the near future. Let’s hope the promoters don’t get in the way of the only fight that matters at lightweight right now.
