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by David P. Greisman - It was a fight in which one man put it all together. It was a fight in which the other man fell apart.
Boxing, after all, is the ultimate sport of dichotomies, a one-on-one showdown between boxers and punchers, between prospects and veterans, between champions and challengers. Saturday night in Mashantucket, Conn., brought a main event with a young, undefeated lightweight titlist named Juan Diaz and an experienced fellow beltholder in Acelino Freitas. Their collision was a story with plot twists and a somewhat surprising finale. The conclusion was conclusive.
For Diaz, it was a bright night, a breakout performance for a future star. For Freitas, it was a dark day, the breaking of a man on whom the book of history will soon close.
Diaz entered the bout as a promising prodigy, a fighter who turned professional at 16 and captured his first title at 20. But his five defenses largely came against a lower tier of opposition, and the Freitas fight was to be a major step up in competition.
Freitas, meanwhile, arrived as a two-division titlist in serious need of a standout performance. He had two ghosts haunting him – a 2004 loss to Diego Corrales in which he quit mid-fight, and last year’s aesthetically displeasing split decision win over Zahir Raheem. [details]
Boxing, after all, is the ultimate sport of dichotomies, a one-on-one showdown between boxers and punchers, between prospects and veterans, between champions and challengers. Saturday night in Mashantucket, Conn., brought a main event with a young, undefeated lightweight titlist named Juan Diaz and an experienced fellow beltholder in Acelino Freitas. Their collision was a story with plot twists and a somewhat surprising finale. The conclusion was conclusive.
For Diaz, it was a bright night, a breakout performance for a future star. For Freitas, it was a dark day, the breaking of a man on whom the book of history will soon close.
Diaz entered the bout as a promising prodigy, a fighter who turned professional at 16 and captured his first title at 20. But his five defenses largely came against a lower tier of opposition, and the Freitas fight was to be a major step up in competition.
Freitas, meanwhile, arrived as a two-division titlist in serious need of a standout performance. He had two ghosts haunting him – a 2004 loss to Diego Corrales in which he quit mid-fight, and last year’s aesthetically displeasing split decision win over Zahir Raheem. [details]