Acelino "Popó" Freitas (; born September 21, 1975) is a Brazilian politician and a former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who competed between 1995 to 2017. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

super featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although first founded by the New ...

title from 1992 to 2004, the

WBA (Unified) The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

super featherweight title from 2002 to 2004, and the WBO

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

title twice between 2004 to 2007. After retiring from boxing, Freitas went into politics, and was elected as a legislator for the state of Bahia, from 2011 to 2014. His nickname, ''Popó'', was given to him by his mother, after the sound that babies make while drinking milk. " retrieved 15 May 2009.

Early life

Freitas had a difficult childhood, often sleeping on a sandy floor at his house. Since early in his life, he dreamed of a better place to live for his family. A skilled

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

player, he was more inclined, however, towards the sport of boxing since an early age. He was heavily influenced by his father and brothers, especially

Luis Claudio Freitas Luiz Freitas (born 3 August 1967) is a Brazilian boxer. He competed in the men's flyweight event at the 1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), official ...

. Fellow Brazilian

Eder Jofre Eder may refer to: People * Eder (surname) * Éder (given name), a Portuguese or Spanish given name *Éder (footballer, born 1986), Brazilian footballer Éder Citadin Martins *Eder (footballer, born 1987), Portuguese footballer from Guinea-Bissau E ...

, generally recognized as the greatest world champion to come out of that country, was one of Freitas' childhood heroes.

Amateur career

Freitas competed for his native country and won a lightweight silver medal at the Pan American Games 1995 in

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a sh ...

Professional career

Early success

After the Pan American Games he turned into a professional boxer on July 14, 1995, against Adriano Jose Soares. With his win by

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving strikin ...

in the first round that night, Freitas set off a streak of 29 knockout wins in a row, which places as one of the longest knockout wins streak in boxing history. His first 10 wins were against low level competition, but for fight number 11, he took on the much more experienced Edwin Vazquez, knocking him out in the seventh round. Between 1997 and 1998, Freitas won four more fights and then took on Francisco Tomas Da Cruz, a former world title challenger of

Julio César Chávez Julio César Chávez González (; born July 12, 1962), also known as Julio César Chávez Sr., is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 2005. A multiple-time world champion in three weight divisions, Chávez was list ...

. Freitas handled Da Cruz with a knockout in two rounds and then added three more knockout wins before getting his first world title shot.

First World Title

On August 7, 1999, Freitas knocked out

Junior Lightweight Champion Anatoly Alexandrov in the first round. Soon after, he signed a contract with

cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...

giant Showtime, which began to telecast Freitas' fights to the United States. Freitas then made five defenses of his world title and had one non-title bout, all of which ended in knockout wins. He then went to London and took only 45 seconds to stop Daniel Alicea in another non-title affair. Freitas then beat the former world champion:

Al Kotey Alfred Kotey (3 June 1968 – 30 June 2020) was a Ghanaian professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2012. He held the WBO bantamweight title from 1994 to 1995 and at regional level the Commonwealth flyweight title from 1989 to 1990. As an ...

, the brother of David 'Poison' Kotei, by a ten-round decision.

Freitas vs Casamayor

On January 12, 2002, Freitas decided to sign for a unification bout with the WBA world champion,

Joel Casamayor Joel Casamayor Johnson (born July 12, 1971) is a Cuban American former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2011. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBA super featherweight title from 2000 to 2002; and the ...

, a

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a pers ...

refugee who resides in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

. In a rousing super featherweight unification title bout battle between unbeaten champions, a controversial knockdown and a blatant foul cost Casamayor his unblemished record and his title as Freitas won a close 12 round unanimous decision. In a classic boxing confrontation between the Brazilian bomber Freitas (129½) and the Cuban boxer Casamayor (129½), the fighters switched roles midway through their encounter in what was reminiscent of Sugar Ray Leonard's first historic face-off with Thomas "Hitman" Hearns back in 1981. The scientist Casamayor became the aggressive slugger, while the puncher Freitas turned into the boxer as once again the unpredictable transpired in a mega-fight. A glancing right-hand to the neck of the off-balanced Casamayor in the 3rd round was ruled a knockdown by referee Joe Cortez and intentionally hitting on the break in the 6th saw the Cuban penalized another point. It was the difference in the finale tallies and the two point cushion that the tiring Freitas retained across the boards on all three judges scorecards. Ring officials Robert Byrd, Bill Graham and Dave Moretti having identical scores of 114 to 112 for the Brazilian.

After Casamayor

Next, he went to

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, to fight

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

n Daniel Attah, with only the WBO belt on the line, winning a 12-round decision on August 3, 2002. The fight was watched by an estimated 91 million viewers in Brazil. Freitas then retained the title in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

with a fourth-round knockout of Juan Carlos Ramirez. On August 9, 2003, he and Jorge Barrios engaged in what Showtime commentator Steve Albert called a ''candidate for fight of the year''. Freitas was floored in rounds eight and eleven, but retaliated with a knockdown of his own towards the end of the eleventh, and ended up retaining the title by knockout in round twelve. Freitas began 2004 by winning a 12-round unanimous decision over

Artur Grigorian Artur Razmikovich Grigorian ( hy, Արթուր Գրիգորյան; born 20 October 1967) is a retired Armenian-Uzbek professional boxer. Grigorian is a former WBO lightweight champion. He defended his title against record-breaking 17 boxers, an ...

on January 4, to become the WBO's world Lightweight champion. On February 1 of that year, the WBA announced it had named Freitas their 2003 ''Fighter of the year''.

Freitas vs Corrales

On August 7, 2004, Freitas lost for the first time, losing his WBO Lightweight title to

Diego Corrales Diego "Chico" Corrales Jr. (August 25, 1977 – May 7, 2007) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2007. He was a multiple-time world champion in two weight divisions, having held the IBF super featherweight title from 199 ...

by TKO in the tenth round after being knocked down by a left hook in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

After Corrales

On April 29, 2006, Freitas defeated

Zahir Raheem Zahir Raheem (born November 7, 1976 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American boxer. Known as "King Raheem", his current professional record stands at 33 wins, 3 losses with 20 knockouts. After a stellar amateur career, which included a 213- ...

for the vacant WBO lightweight title by split decision. Freitas announced his retirement as a professional boxer on October 4, 2006.José Elias Flores Jr. 4 October 2006. ''Fightnews.com''. URL accessed 4 October 2006. Later on, he announced his come back from retirement, and the WBO re-instated him as their lightweight champion. On April 28, 2007, he fought Juan Diaz in Mashantucket, USA, losing by TKO after his trainer stopped the bout at the beginning the 9th round, drawing boos from the crowd. He has fought three times since his last loss (2012, 2015, and most recently in November 2017), all wins against inferior competition and all in South America (two wins by knockout and one win by 8-round unanimous decision).

Personal life

Freitas' childhood hero was Brazilian boxer

. His career in boxing was heavily influenced by his older brother

. He has been able to help his family financially and has built a soccer field in his mansion, allowing him to practice his second favorite sport. Freitas' married wife Eliana Guimarães in 2001, they divorced in 2003. He was Secretary of Sports in

Salvador Salvador, meaning " salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

and is member of

Brazilian Republican Party Republicans (), formerly known as Brazilian Republican Party ( pt, Partido Republicano Brasileiro) and formed as Renovator Municipalist Party ( pt, Partido Municipalista Renovador) is a Brazilian political party. Its electoral number is 10 and ...

. The careers of Acelino Freitas and

are depicted in the 2019 biographical TV series ''Irmãos Freitas'', directed by

Walter Salles Walter Moreira Salles Júnior (; born 12 April 1956) is a Brazilian filmmaker. Early life Salles was born on 12 April 1956 in Rio de Janeiro and attended the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. He is the son of Braz ...

and Sérgio Machado. Brazilian actors Daniel Rocha and Rômulo Braga co-star as Acelino Freitas and Luis Claudio Freitas.

Professional boxing record

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%" , - ! !Result !Record !Opponent !Type !Round, time !Date !Location !Notes , - , 43 , Win , 41–2 , style="text-align:left;", Gabriel Martinez , UD , 8 , Nov 11, 2017 , style="text-align:left;", , , - , 42 , Win , 40–2 , style="text-align:left;", Mateo Damian Veron , TKO , 3 (10), , Aug 15, 2015 , style="text-align:left;", , , - , 41 , Win , 39–2 , style="text-align:left;", Michael Oliveira , TKO , 9 (10), , Jun 2, 2012 , style="text-align:left;", , , - , 40 , Loss , 38–2 , style="text-align:left;", Juan Díaz , RTD , 8 (12), , Apr 28, 2007 , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", , - , 39 , Win , 38–1, , align=left,

, SD , 12 , Apr 29, 2006 , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", , - , 38 , Win , 37–1 , style="text-align:left;", Fabian Salazar , KO , 1 (10), , Jul 16, 2005 , style="text-align:left;", , , - , 37 , Win , 36–1 , style="text-align:left;", David Saucedo , UD , 10 , Dec 11, 2004 , style="text-align:left;", , , - , 36 , Loss , 35–1 , style="text-align:left;",

, TKO , 10 (12), , Aug 7, 2004 , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", , - , 35 , Win , 35–0 , style="text-align:left;",

, UD , 12 , Jan 3, 2004 , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", , - , 34 , Win , 34–0 , style="text-align:left;",

Jorge Rodrigo Barrios Jorge Rodrigo Barrios (born August 1, 1976) is an Argentine former professional boxer who held the WBO junior lightweight title. Professional career Barrios made his professional boxing debut on August 10, 1996 with a second-round knockout vic ...

, TKO , 12 (12), , Aug 9, 2003 , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", , - , 33 , Win , 33–0 , style="text-align:left;", Juan Carlos Ramírez , TKO , 4 (12), , Mar 15, 2003 , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", , - , 32 , Win , 32–0 , style="text-align:left;", Daniel Attah , UD , 12 , Aug 3, 2002 , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", , - , 31 , Win , 31–0 , style="text-align:left;",

, UD , 12 , Jan 12, 2002 , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", , - , 30 , Win , 30–0 , style="text-align:left;",

Alfred Kotey Alfred Kotey (3 June 1968 – 30 June 2020) was a Ghanaian professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2012. He held the WBO bantamweight title from 1994 to 1995 and at regional level the Commonwealth flyweight title from 1989 to 1990. As an am ...

, UD , 10 , Sep 29, 2001 , style="text-align:left;", , , - , 29 , Win , 29–0 , style="text-align:left;", Orlando Soto , KO , 1 (12), , Jan 27, 2001 , align=left, , style="text-align:left;", , - , 28 , Win , 28–0 , style="text-align:left;", Daniel Alicea , TKO , 1 (12), , Dec 16, 2000 , align=left, , , - , 27 , Win , 27–0 , style="text-align:left;",

Carlos Rios Carlos Alberto Ramon Rios (born 14 April 1971) is an Argentine professional boxer. He currently has 53 wins and 11 losses. Rios has fought in the super lightweight and featherweight division. Rios has fought for a world title on several occasio ...

, TKO , 9 (12), , Sep 23, 2000 , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", , - , 26 , Win , 26–0 , style="text-align:left;", Lemuel Nelson , TKO , 2 (12), , Jun 10, 2000 , align=left, , style="text-align:left;", , - , 25 , Win , 25–0 , style="text-align:left;", Javier Jáuregui , KO , 1 (12), , Mar 18, 2000 , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", , - , 24 , Win , 24–0 , style="text-align:left;", Barry Jones , TKO , 8 (12), , Jan 15, 2000 , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", , - , 23 , Win , 23–0 , style="text-align:left;", Claudio Victor Martinet , KO , 3 (10) , Dec 18, 1999 , style="text-align:left;", , , - , 22 , Win , 22–0 , style="text-align:left;", Anthony Martinez , TKO , 2 (12), , Oct 26, 1999 , align=left, , style="text-align:left;", , - , 21 , Win , 21–0 , style="text-align:left;", Anatoly Alexandrov , KO , 1 (12), , Aug 7, 1999 , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", , - , 20 , Win , 20–0 , style="text-align:left;", Juan Angel Macias , KO , 8 (12) , Apr 2, 1999 , align=left, , style="text-align:left;", , - , 19 , Win , 19–0 , style="text-align:left;", Peter Buckley , RTD , 3 (8), , Dec 19, 1998 , align=left, , , - , 18 , Win , 18–0 , style="text-align:left;", Jose Luis Montes , TKO , 1 (12) , Oct 16, 1998 , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", , - , 17 , Win , 17–0 , style="text-align:left;", Francisco Tomas Da Cruz , TKO , 2 (12) , Sep 15, 1998 , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", , - , 16 , Win , 16–0 , style="text-align:left;", Juan Gutierrez , TKO , 1 (12) , Aug 14, 1998 , style="text-align:left;", , , - , 15 , Win , 15–0 , style="text-align:left;", Rafael Oliveira , KO , 3 (10), , Jun 8, 1998 , style="text-align:left;", , , - , 14 , Win , 14–0 , style="text-align:left;", Rildo José Oliveira , TKO , 1 (12) , May 29, 1998 , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", , - , 13 , Win , 13–0 , style="text-align:left;", Gustavo Rodolfo Sayaavedra , KO , 1 (10) , Nov 19, 1997 , style="text-align:left;", , , - , 12 , Win , 12–0 , style="text-align:left;", Edwin Vazquez , TKO , 7 (12) , Sep 2, 1997 , style="text-align:left;", , , - , 11 , Win , 11–0 , style="text-align:left;", Hilario Guzman , TKO , 8 (10), , Jun 27, 1997 , style="text-align:left;", , , - , 10 , Win , 10–0 , style="text-align:left;",

Johnny Montantes Johnny Montantes, alias ''Jumpin' Johnny'', (June 10, 1969 – September 28, 1997) was a lightweight professional boxer from Minnesota. Personal life Montantes was from Saint Paul, Minnesota. He named his son "Marciano" in honor of heavyweight g ...

, TKO , 1 (8), , May 10, 1997 , style="text-align:left;", , , - , 9 , Win , 9–0 , style="text-align:left;", Arcelio Diaz , TKO , 1 (12) , Apr 22, 1997 , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", , - , 8 , Win , 8–0 , style="text-align:left;", Antonio Maria Do Nascimento , KO , 2 (6) , Mar 8, 1997 , style="text-align:left;", , , - , 7 , Win , 7–0 , style="text-align:left;", Hamilton Cerqueira , KO , 4 (6) , Feb 1, 1997 , style="text-align:left;", , , - , 6 , Win , 6–0 , style="text-align:left;", Gutemberg Ferreira , KO , 2 (12) , Aug 16, 1996 , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", , - , 5 , Win , 5–0 , style="text-align:left;", Ralph Riveros , KO , 2 (6) , Apr 2, 1996 , style="text-align:left;", , , - , 4 , Win , 4–0 , style="text-align:left;", Marco De Lima , TKO , 3 (6) , Nov 14, 1995 , style="text-align:left;", , , - , 3 , Win , 3–0 , style="text-align:left;", Manoel Oliveira da Cruz , KO , 2 (4) , Sep 18, 1995 , style="text-align:left;", , , - , 2 , Win , 2–0 , style="text-align:left;", Valdevino Monteiro , KO , 1 (4) , Aug 14, 1995 , style="text-align:left;", , , - , 1 , Win , 1–0 , style="text-align:left;", Jose Adriano Soares , KO , 1 (4) , Jul 14, 1995 , style="text-align:left;", ,

Television viewership

Brazil

{, class="wikitable sortable" ! Date !! Fight !! Network !! Viewership () !! Source(s) , - , , Acelino Freitas vs. Daniel Attah , , , , - ! !Total viewership ! !91,000,000 !

References

External links

*
boxen-artur.de
– Encyclopedia * {{DEFAULTSORT:Freitas, Acelino 1975 births Super-featherweight boxers Lightweight boxers Living people World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Organization champions Sportspeople from Salvador, Bahia Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil Boxers at the 1995 Pan American Games Brazilian male boxers Pan American Games medalists in boxing Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games