Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Columnist Dean Juipe: Showtime sluggers a promising match

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4084.

Big hitters will be on display Saturday on Showtime as lightweight sluggers Acelino Freitas and Diego Corrales are matched in what figures to be an interesting bout.

They're scheduled for 12 rounds at an Indian casino in Mashantucket, Conn.

Corrales is a slight betting favorite at one Las Vegas sports book (the Palms), while Freitas is the favorite at another chain (Station casinos).

"I will show who the bigger puncher is," Freitas said this week during a conference call with the fighters. "Retaining the (World Boxing Organization) championship will be uplifting."

Corrales, of course, has other ideas.

"Both of us are young, both of us are at the height of our careers," he said. "The potential is there (for a great fight) because you have two of the biggest punchers in the world matching up.

"But I'm sure Acelino has never been in the ring with a six-footer before."

Corrales will have 5 inches on Freitas in height but only a 1-inch advantage in reach.

"I have a lightweight body," said Freitas, who has returned to the 135-pound division after spending the bulk of his career at 130. "I fought as a lightweight for my first three years as a pro. I feel like I've moved back to my natural weight."

Freitas, 28, is 35-0 with 31 knockouts and said during training camp that "Corrales is a one-dimensional fighter: He tries to come forward and rip your head off."

Corrales, 26, is 38-2 and also has 31 KOs.

Freitas is coming off a decision victory against Artur Grigorian in January and is best known for taking a decision victory against Joel Casamayor two years ago.

Coincidentally, Corrales is coming off two fights against Casamayor, having won the latter by decision in March. The losses on his record came in fights against Casamayor and, earlier, Floyd Mayweather Jr.

A Las Vegas resident, Corrales will be fighting for the second time under trainer Joe Goossen.

"It's a good move," he said of aligning himself with Goossen. "It's a long-term thing."

Corrales knows a brawl with Freitas is almost inevitable.

"If it goes to a war -- which I believe is likely at some point -- then that's what we have," he said. "It'll turn into a battle."

"The way Samuel has smashed his way through his first 19 opponents, it's been easy for all of us to get very excited about his chances," Duva said. "But what we all have to remember is that he still has to go out and beat these guys.

"Now that he's at this level of the division, no one is going to be lying down at the first sign of trouble."

Peter is 19-0 with 17 knockouts but was taken the distance in his last outing, against Charles Shufford in Las Vegas.

Pudor is 22-2 with 12 KOs.

"When you develop a reputation as a devastating knockout artist, you can have one 'off' performance and people will call you a fluke," Duva said. "If it goes to his head before he has the job done, it could cost him at any time."

"I'm preparing for war," said undisputed welterweight champion Cory Spinks, who will put his belts and his 33-2 record up against former champion Miguel Angel Gonzalez. "I will die in the ring against anyone who tries to take my titles."

Gonzalez, 50-3-1, said "this is the fight of my life."

In the companion main event, heavyweights Lamon Brewster and Kali Meehan are paired.

Brewster is 30-2 with 27 KOs and Meehan is 29-1 with 23 KOs.

"I know Meehan has a lot of heart, but I have a lot heart, too," said Brewster. "Talk is cheap. I'm just going to show what I have.

"For me to be considered the best fighter of my era, I have to fight the best competition."

Meehan, whose lone loss was to Danny Williams, said "it's easy to underestimate me. But Brewster knows he has a fight on his hands, and so do I. This is everything in my life now."

Arum also said he would have Erik Morales, who defeated Carlos Hernandez last Saturday at the MGM, back in the ring and defending his World Boxing Council and IBF junior lightweight belts in November. Morales told the Sun last week that he will move to 135 pounds "by next year" and that if a third fight with rival Marco Antonio Barrera is going to be arranged, it will have to be at that weight. They fought twice earlier as featherweights, splitting the bouts. Morales, however, was not impressed with Barrera's recent victory against Paulie Ayala in Carson, Calif., saying "my daughter could have beaten Ayala."

Former super bantamweight champion Wayne McCullough of Las Vegas is offering to "fight for free" in an attempt to get a quality bout in the United States. "I'll sign for a $10,000 purse and give the money back if they're not satisfied," he said of trying to rejuvenate his career. ... Another former world champion with Las Vegas ties, Vince Phillips, extended his career by stopping journeyman Paulino Avitia recently in Fresno. Phillips is 45-8-1 and Avitia fell to 12-5. ... Felix Sturm, who lost a controversial decision to Oscar De La Hoya in June, returns to the ring Sept. 18 in Hamburg, Germany, against an opponent yet to be determined. ... Portland, Ore., is making a run at acquiring the Roy Jones Jr. vs. Glencoffe Johnson IBF light heavyweight title fight that is up for grabs and targeted for Sept. 25.

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