Saturday TKO may put Corrales at the top of the heap
By JOHN C. COTEY
Published August 10, 2004
If Antonio Tarver's stunning knockout of Roy Jones Jr. put him in line for fighter of the year honors, Diego "Chico" Corrales may have passed him Saturday night.
Corrales (39-2, 32 KOs) took apart the undefeated Acelino Freitas, making the Brazilian superstar quit in the 10th round rather than absorb more punishment. Looking as fresh as he did in the first round, Corrales pounded the more active and faster Freitas (35-1) into submission.
Freitas did not comment after the fight, but it had to be painfully obvious to him: He had no chance of turning the fight back in his favor after Corrales caught up to him in Round 8.
He fought gallantly while getting knocked down again in the ninth, and not so gallantly in the 10th when he went down for a third time. Freitas rose more quickly than he had the previous two times, but after walking toward referee Michael Ortega to indicate he was fine, he had second thoughts.
No mas.
It was a shocking end to a fight that lived up to the hype.
For seven rounds, Freitas was on the move and effective, but Corrales took his best shots. Once he slowed, the stalking Corrales got him in range, knocking him down in the eighth.
"At that point, I knew that the tide changed and the pace was all mine and I had to keep the pressure on and my corner told me to keep the pressure on," Corrales said in the postfight news conference.
The victory cemented Corrales as the best lightweight in the world. He might also be the sport's best fighter at the moment. He had all but conquered the junior lightweight division by beating Joel Casamayor in their rematch in March and now looks virtually indestructible at 135 pounds.
"I think the weight change made a huge difference; I mean, I felt so much stronger physically," Corrales said. "I mean, it is really a big difference."
Others may lay claim to winning bigger fights, beating better competition, holding more belts.
But no one can say he is having a better year.
IT'S SHOWTIME: St. Petersburg's Jeff Lacy will get his chance to become Tampa Bay's third world champion Oct. 2 when he meets No. 1-rated Syd Vanderpool for the IBF super-middleweight title at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Promoter Gary Shaw announced the fight this weekend, according to maxboxing.com. Lacy will become the first Olympian from the 2000 class to fight for a title. He could join Winky Wright (WBC and WBA junior middleweight) and Tarver (WBC light heavyweight) as area residents with major championship belts.
The card, which also features Kassim Ouma and Verno Phillips fighting for Wright's old IBF belt and Wladimir Klitschko taking on DaVarryl Williamson, will be on Showtime.
It'll have some stiff competition: That same night, Felix Trinidad's much-publicized comeback begins with a pay-per-view bout against Ricardo Mayorga.
DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK: Promoters Square Ring and Goossen Tutor Promotions are expected to announce today a Sept. 25 bout pitting IBF light heavyweight Glen Johnson against Jones.
It will be Jones' first fight since Tarver knocked him out in May, and it is expected to take place in Memphis. HBO will do the television.
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Information from other news organizations was used in the report.
