With fight in Las Vegas, Freitas aims for long-desired exposure

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Dec. 20, 2001 | 9:37 a.m.

A well-traveled road brings Acelino Freitas to a destination he and his promoter have long coveted, Las Vegas.

Fighting here for the first time after building a record of 30-0 with a numbing 29 knockouts, Freitas co-headlines a Jan. 12 card at the Cox Pavilion on the UNLV campus when he takes on fellow junior lightweight champion Joel Casamayor.

With the U.S. cable network Showtime televising, Freitas is presented with the opportunity to make himself known to an American audience that may yet be unfamiliar with him.

Fighting mostly in his native Brazil but also in Europe somewhat regularly, Freitas has destroyed every man put in front of him. In fact, it wasn't until his most recent bout, against Alfred Kotey in Miami on Sept. 9, that Freitas allowed the judges to determine the outcome of a fight in which he was involved.

"With a win over Casamayor, Freitas becomes a superstar in America," said his promoter, Art Pelullo. "I think boxing people know of him, but maybe the typical American boxing fan doesn't.

"But once they see him, they'll be saying 'Look at this guy -- he's colorful and unbelievably strong.' It'll be a coming-out party."

Casamayor, of course, has similar plans and brings his own perfect record of 26-0 with 16 knockouts into the attractive fight.

One or the other -- Freitas or Casamayor -- will make an impact in the public's consciousness, while the loser takes what could be an irretrievable step backward.

"I'll beat Casamayor," Freitas said during a Las Vegas visit, his trainer, Oscar Suarez, translating the fighter's Portuguese. "I'm getting ready for anything and everything he might offer, and my confidence is way up."

Having to go the distance with Kotey didn't faze the Brazilian slugger.

"In some ways, it's better that my knockout streak is over," Freitas said. "It was never the main thing on my mind. Now I can concentrate on Casamayor and not worry about having to knock him out."

Yet he implies that he will.

"I'd love to have the fight end that way," Freitas said of the KO possibilities.

While the 5-foot-5 Freitas is short for a junior lightweight, his past opponents can attest that he's long on power. His average fight has lasted only 2.86 rounds.

He became the World Boxing Organization champion at 130 pounds in 1999 with a first-round knockout of reigning champ Anatoly Alexandrov, in Cannet, France, and has followed that with nine other wins. Barry Jones, Lemuel Nelson and Carlos Rios are among those to have lost to Freitas in the last two years.

"Popo," as he's known to his countrymen, is training in Coachella Valley, Calif., for Casamayor, who is at Big Bear, Calif.

"I've been very patient," Freitas said of his status in America. "But this is the perfect time to make my move. Everything has its time and place and this is the right time for me.

"People are going to find out about me. I'll show my punching power."

Pelullo -- who called the decision win over Kotey "good for Freitas' psyche" -- said his man struggles at times to make 130, but that he'll make it with ease for the fight with Casamayor because he will have had a lengthy stay in training camp.

But he also said Freitas is angling for the champions at 135, while claiming that the Brazilian could make 126 with sufficient notice if the fight involved someone such as Marco Antonio Barrera or Erik Morales.

"There's (Floyd) Mayweather, (Jose Luis) Castillo and (Paul) Spadafora," Pelullo said of what lies ahead should Freitas conquer Casamayor.

But therein lies the risk: Beating Casamayor, the World Boxing Association champion and former Olympic gold medalist from Cuba, is no sure thing.

"Every big fight like this is fight for history," Freitas said. "I don't see it as a risk. I see it as an opportunity to show the world who's the best junior lightweight.

"It's a good situation and I plan on taking advantage."