By Dr. Peter Edwards

If there was ever a bout where two talented fighters were battling to gain some respect in the sport, this is the fight. This Saturday, Acelino “Popo” Freitas (37-1, 32KOs), from Salvador, Brazil, takes on Zahir Raheem (27-1, 16KOs), a 1996 Olympic bronze medal winner from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The bout will be televised live by HBO, from the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Connecticut.

Freitas has seen the bright lights and received accolades from the boxing world, but saw his entire career crash with a single performance. A former WBO Jr. Lightweight champion and former WBO Lightweight champion, Freitas wants to get his career back on track in order to win another world title.

A fierce power puncher, Freitas went pro in 1995 and steam rolled over most of the competition to build up an impressive 30-0 record. The day to prove himself came on January 12, 2002, when he met undefeated Joel Casamayor to settle the argument of who was the best fighter at 130 pounds. It was a close battle that saw Freitas start very strong for the first half of the fight, but fade down the stretch of the second half. It appeared that Freitas used up too much energy in the first half of the fight when he was winging bombs and using a lot of movement to get away from Casayamor’s counters.

Freitas did not properly pace himself a paid the price. As the fight played out, Casamayor grew stronger and began to outbox Freitas while landing plenty of his own hard punches. When the final bell came, the arena was split as to who won the fight. Freitas, by the skin of his teeth, was announced as the unanimous decision winner. It was the biggest win of Freitas’ career, but the win also had black clouds as there was a decent amount of ringside observers who felt Casamayor should have been awarded the decision.

The bout that made the public respect Freitas was his spectacular, fight of the year like battle with the hard-punching Jorge Barrios of Argentina in August of 2003. Before a televised audience of millions, Freitas was sent down to the canvas on two occasions by a bloody Barrios and possible behind in the fight. The two punchers swung for the fences at the bell to end the 11th round, Barrios missed, but Freitas connected with a punch that almost send the head of Barrios into the second row. Barrios went down to canvas and miraculously was able to get to his feet in order to beat the referee’s count. The fight could of ended at that moment because Barrios never recovered from the punch and had no idea where he was.

At the start of the twelfth and final round, Freitas went for broke to see if Barrios had recovered from the previous round. The roll of dice paid off for Freitas as Barrios’ mind was still warped and a barrage of punches sent Barrios to canvas once again. Once again Barrios was able to beat the count, but this time the referee could see that he had absolutely no idea where he was and stopped the fight. The win was a crowning moment for Freitas, the kind of win ever fighter dreams of attaining at some point in their career.

The public’s love with Freitas came to end on August 7, 2004. The day he clashed in a super fight with Diego “Chico” Corrales. For the first seven and a half rounds, he gave Corrales a boxing lesson as his hand speed and quick reflexes appeared to be too much to handle.  The turning point came in the eight round when Corrales final caught him against the ropes and landed a series of bombs to drop him to the canvas. Freitas was able to beat the count, but the tempo of the fight had changed, as he appeared to be more concerned about getting away from Corrales by staying away - rather than winning the remaining rounds of the fight.

Feitas tasted the canvas again in the ninth round, but it was the knockdown tenth round that left a bad taste in the mouths of most boxing fans. After taking a few more hard shots that sent him to the mat, Freitas got up on his feet, started walking to his corner and as he walked to his corner he told the referee he did not want to continue - the fight was stopped. The way the fight came to an end shocked the boxing world and even his opponent Corrales. It was the kind of loss that could haunt your entire career.

Following the defeat, the public questioned his heart, his spirit and if he had what it takes to be a successful fighter. There were many who felt that Freitas would never be able emotionally recover and would likely retire. Freitas did not retire, he actually came back four months to get himself back on track with a unanimous decision win. He stepped back in the ring about seven months later to pick another win, this time by way of a first round knockout.

Zahir Raheem is a different story, but he is on the same journey to obtain the exact same thing Freitas is looking for – respect. After a fantastic amateur career and winning the Olympic bronze medal in 1996, Raheem went pro in November of 1996. He did possess the punching power that most great fighters from Philadelphia had in their arsenal, but his speed and boxing ability made up for it.

Raheem boxed his way to a perfect 25-0 record when he met undefeated Rocky Juarez in a high-profile televised event, and lost a unanimous decision. Although he tasted the canvas in the bout, most ringside observers felt Raheem had done more than enough to win the fight with his boxing skills. The bout was close, but two out of the three scorecards were heavily lopsided in favor of Juarez. Even though Raheem had lost the bout, he left the arena that night as much of a winner as Juarez because of the amount of people that felt he should have been awarded the decision. Even the observers who felt Raheem may have lost a close decision, also thought the fight was close enough to easily be a draw.

The day for Raheem to prove himself came on September 10, 2005, when he met Erik Morales in the main event of highly publicized card in front of a jam-packed crowd at the Staples Center. He was thrown in the fight with Morales to give the Mexican warrior a “safe” opponent prior to meeting Manny Pacquiao in a January pay-per-view rematch.

Unfortunately, for Morales, Pacquiao, Top Rank and even HBO, Raheem came to fight. From the opening bell, it was very apparent that Raheem was not only quicker, but he was also stronger and on that night – the better fighter. The big mistake by the Morales camp, other than taking Raheem lightly, was meeting him at 135 pounds, a weight class more beneficial to Raheem than Morales.

Raheem dazzled the crowd with quick reflexes and accurate combinations. An overwhelmed Morales was never able to cut off the ring or land any of his big power punches. The unthinkable happened that night when Raheem, who was a heavy underdog in the eye of the boxing public, dominated the great Erik Morales. The ring announcer did not even have to read the decision because the win was punctuating enough that every person knew who won, even Morales.

It was the kind of win to that would have turned any fighter with the credentials of Raheem into an instant star, but the stardom has yet to happen. Despite the loss, Morales went forward with his rematch against Pacquiao, while Raheem was quickly forgotten.

For the first time since beating Morales last year, Raheem steps in the ring with the most dangerous opponent of his career.

The Freitas-Raheem clash comes down to a simple science of power versus speed.

Does Raheem have enough skill to box Freitas’ ears off? Yes.

Does Freitas have enough power to knock Raheem out? Yes.

The problem for Raheem in the bout is the hand speed of Freitas. Unlike a sluggish Morales, Freitas is fast enough to catch him and a good enough boxer to hold his own.

The real question in the bout is what kind of Freitas will show up. How will he be able to deal with another big pressure fight? The careers of both fighters are on the line in this bout. The winner will land a title shot, while the loser falls down the ladder. The stakes are high and the fighter that wants it more is the one to prevail in this bout.