Acelino Freitas

Acelino "Popó" Freitas ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}; born September 21, 1975) is a Brazilian politician and a former professional boxer who competed between 1995 and 2017. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBO super featherweight title from 1999 to 2004, the WBA (Unified) super featherweight title from 2002 to 2004, and the WBO lightweight title twice between 2004 and 2007. After retiring from boxing, Freitas went into politics, and was elected as a legislator for the state of Bahia, from 2011 to 2014.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His nickname, Popó, was given to him by his mother, after the sound that babies make while drinking milk.<ref name="Popo">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} " retrieved 15 May 2009.</ref>

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

Amateur career

Template:Expand section Freitas competed for his native country and won a lightweight silver medal at the Pan American Games 1995 in Mar del Plata.

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 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. 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 WBO Junior Lightweight Champion Anatoly Alexandrov in the first round. Soon after, he signed a contract with cable TV 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, 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, a Cuban refugee who resides in Florida. 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, to fight Nigerian 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.<ref name="They also will meet Acelino Freitas there. Freitas is one of the biggest Brazilian stars, almost as popular as some soccer players. In his last fight, 91 million Brazilians watched on TV."/>

Freitas then retained the title in Chicago 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 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 by TKO in the tenth round after being knocked down by a left hook in Connecticut.

After Corrales

On April 29, 2006, Freitas defeated Zahir Raheem for the vacant WBO lightweight title by split decision. Freitas announced his retirement as a professional boxer on October 4, 2006.<ref name="full">José Elias Flores Jr.{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} 4 October 2006. Fightnews.com. URL accessed 4 October 2006.</ref> 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 Eder Jofre. His career in boxing was heavily influenced by his older brother Luis Claudio Freitas.

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 and is member of Brazilian Republican Party.

The careers of Acelino Freitas and Luis Claudio Freitas are depicted in the 2019 biographical TV series Irmãos Freitas, directed by Walter Salles and Sérgio Machado. Brazilian actors Daniel Rocha and Rômulo Braga co-star as Acelino Freitas and Luis Claudio Freitas.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2024, Acelino Freitas performed cosplayed as chimarrão in the reality singing competition The Masked Singer Brasil.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Boxing record

Professional

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
43	Template:Yes2Win	41–2	Gabriel Martinez	UD	8	Nov 11, 2017	Template:Small
42	Template:Yes2Win	40–2	Mateo Damian Veron	TKO	3 (10), Template:Small	Aug 15, 2015	Template:Small
41	Template:Yes2Win	39–2	Michael Oliveira	TKO	9 (10), Template:Small	Jun 2, 2012	Template:Small
40	Template:No2Loss	38–2	Juan Díaz	RTD	8 (12), Template:Small	Apr 28, 2007	Template:Small	Template:Small
39	Template:Yes2Win	38–1	Zahir Raheem	SD	12	Apr 29, 2006	Template:Small	Template:Small
38	Template:Yes2Win	37–1	Fabian Salazar	KO	1 (10), Template:Small	Jul 16, 2005	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	36–1	David Saucedo	UD	10	Dec 11, 2004	Template:Small
36	Template:No2Loss	35–1	Diego Corrales	TKO	10 (12), Template:Small	Aug 7, 2004	Template:Small	Template:Small
35	Template:Yes2Win	35–0	Artur Grigorian	UD	12	Jan 3, 2004	Template:Small	Template:Small
34	Template:Yes2Win	34–0	Jorge Rodrigo Barrios	TKO	12 (12), Template:Small	Aug 9, 2003	Template:Small	Template:Small
33	Template:Yes2Win	33–0	Juan Carlos Ramírez	TKO	4 (12), Template:Small	Mar 15, 2003	Template:Small	Template:Small
32	Template:Yes2Win	32–0	Daniel Attah	UD	12	Aug 3, 2002	Template:Small	Template:Small
31	Template:Yes2Win	31–0	Joel Casamayor	UD	12	Jan 12, 2002	Template:Small	Template:Small
30	Template:Yes2Win	30–0	Alfred Kotey	UD	10	Sep 29, 2001	Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	29–0	Orlando Soto	KO	1 (12), Template:Small	Jan 27, 2001	Template:Small	Template:Small
28	Template:Yes2Win	28–0	Daniel Alicea	TKO	1 (12), Template:Small	Dec 16, 2000	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	27–0	Carlos Rios	TKO	9 (12), Template:Small	Sep 23, 2000	Template:Small	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	26–0	Lemuel Nelson	TKO	2 (12), Template:Small	Jun 10, 2000	Template:Small	Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	25–0	Javier Jáuregui	KO	1 (12), Template:Small	Mar 18, 2000	Template:Small	Template:Small
24	Template:Yes2Win	24–0	Barry Jones	TKO	8 (12), Template:Small	Jan 15, 2000	Template:Small	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	23–0	Claudio Victor Martinet	KO	3 (10)	Dec 18, 1999	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	22–0	Anthony Martinez	TKO	2 (12), Template:Small	Oct 26, 1999	Template:Small	Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	21–0	Anatoly Alexandrov	KO	1 (12), Template:Small	Aug 7, 1999	Template:Small	Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	20–0	Juan Angel Macias	KO	8 (12)	Apr 2, 1999	Template:Small	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	19–0	Peter Buckley	RTD	3 (8), Template:Small	Dec 19, 1998	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	18–0	Jose Luis Montes	TKO	1 (12)	Oct 16, 1998	Template:Small	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	17–0	Francisco Tomas Da Cruz	TKO	2 (12)	Sep 15, 1998	Template:Small	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	16–0	Juan Gutierrez	TKO	1 (12)	Aug 14, 1998	Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	15–0	Rafael Oliveira	KO	3 (10), Template:Small	Jun 8, 1998	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	14–0	Rildo José Oliveira	TKO	1 (12)	May 29, 1998	Template:Small	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	13–0	Gustavo Rodolfo Sayaavedra	KO	1 (10)	Nov 19, 1997	Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	12–0	Edwin Vazquez	TKO	7 (12)	Sep 2, 1997	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	11–0	Hilario Guzman	TKO	8 (10), Template:Small	Jun 27, 1997	Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	10–0	Johnny Montantes	TKO	1 (8), Template:Small	May 10, 1997	Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	9–0	Arcelio Diaz	TKO	1 (12)	Apr 22, 1997	Template:Small	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	8–0	Antonio Maria Do Nascimento	KO	2 (6)	Mar 8, 1997	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	7–0	Hamilton Cerqueira	KO	4 (6)	Feb 1, 1997	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	6–0	Gutemberg Ferreira	KO	2 (12)	Aug 16, 1996	Template:Small	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	5–0	Ralph Riveros	KO	2 (6)	Apr 2, 1996	Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	4–0	Marco De Lima	TKO	3 (6)	Nov 14, 1995	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Manoel Oliveira da Cruz	KO	2 (4)	Sep 18, 1995	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Valdevino Monteiro	KO	1 (4)	Aug 14, 1995	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Jose Adriano Soares	KO	1 (4)	Jul 14, 1995	Template:Small	Exhibition Template:Abbr Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes 4 Template:Yes2Win 3-0–1 Kleber de Paula Pedra "Bambam" Template:Abbr 1(8), 36 24 Feb 2024 Template:Small 3 Template:Yes2Win 2-0–1 Junior Dublê Template:Abbr 1 (8), Template:Small 26 Aug 2023 Template:Small 2 Template:Yes2Win 1-0-1 Jose Landi-Jons "Pelé Landy" Template:Abbr 1 (8), Template:Small 25 Sep 2022 Template:Small 1 Draw 0–0–1 Whindersson Nunes Template:Abbr 8 30 Jan 2022 Template:Small Television viewership Brazil Date Fight Network Viewership (Template:Estimation) Source(s) Template:Dts {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} Acelino Freitas vs. Daniel Attah Globo {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} <ref name="They also will meet Acelino Freitas there. Freitas is one of the biggest Brazilian stars, almost as popular as some soccer players. In his last fight, 91 million Brazilians watched on TV.">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="freitas-attah">Template:Cite news</ref> Total viewership 91,000,000 See also List of world lightweight boxing champions References External links Template:Boxrec boxen-artur.de – Encyclopedia [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 2788316	match|1=2788316|2=^nm}}	Template:Trim/	nm2788316/ }}	{{#if: {{#property:P345}}	name/Template:First word/	find?q=%7B%7B%23if%3A+Acelino+Freitas%0A++++++%7C+Acelino+Freitas%0A++++++%7C+%5B%5B%3ATemplate%3APAGENAMEBASE%5D%5D%0A++++++%7D%7D&s=nm }} }}{{#if: 2788316 {{#property:P345}} | {{#switch:	awards = awards Awards for | biography | bio = bio Biography for }}}} {{#if: Acelino Freitas	Acelino Freitas	Template:PAGENAMEBASE }}] at IMDb{{#if: 2788316{{#property:P345}}	Template:EditAtWikidata	Template:Main other }}{{#switch:{{#invoke:string2|matchAny|^nm.........|^nm.......|nm|.........|source=2788316|plain=false}}	3 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning	4 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning }}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:IMDb name with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|showblankpositional=1| 1 | 2 | id | name | section }}