Former two weight world champion and Brazilian boxing legend Acelino ‘Popo’ Freitas returned to the ring after a five year lay off to knock out young pretender Michael Oliveira in the ninth round at the Conrad Hotel & Casino in Punta del Este, Uruguay on Saturday.
The previously unbeaten Oliveira, 17-1-(12), was being groomed as the next Brazilian boxing icon but 36 year-old ‘Popo’ proved that it takes more than a padded out record to make it in the toughest sport of all. Freitas, 39-2-(33), the most famous Brazilian boxer of the last 30 years, proved that even at age 36 and after such a long lay off he can still produce the goods against the young pretenders.
Freitas floored Oliveira with a series of clean shots at the end of round three but Oliveira was saved by the bell before ‘Popo’ could pounce again.. In round seven Freitas took over the fight and floored Oliveira twice in round nine lay out Oliveira after 2:09 of the round.
Oliveira will rue the day they tempted Freitas out of retirement in a bid to take a short cut to making a name for himself on the Brazilian boxing scene. It remains to be seen whether Freitas decides to fight again.
Other results
WBO Latino flyweight title Gabriela Bouvier w ko 1 Marta Soledad Juncos
light middleweight Douglas Ataide Santos w pts 8 Gilberto Pereira Santos
super flyweight Jilmar Dos Santos w pts 6 Wilson Simao
light heavyweight Jovan Young w tko 3 Gilson Silva
June 2, 2012
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