BY TIM SMITH DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Monday, January 14, 2002
LAS VEGAS - After his controversial unanimous decision over Joel Casamayor on Saturday night for the WBA super-featherweight title, Acelino Freitas said he is not interested in a rematch but is ready to move to the next level: a bout against WBC junior lightweight champ Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Considering the trouble he had with Casamayor, Freitas would be taking a huge step up by meeting Mayweather.
"Mayweather is a great champion and he is next in line," Freitas said. "He deserves a shot to unify the titles and I look forward to it."
Mayweather, who had been planning to move up to lightweight, said he now will consider keeping his WBC 130-pound title and fighting Freitas. Obviously Mayweather liked what he saw at the Cox Pavilion on the UNLV campus on Saturday night.
Freitas (31-0, 29 KOs) needed a controversial knockdown in the third round and a point deduction against Casamayor for hitting on the break in the sixth round to pull out the decision. All three judges scored it six rounds apiece, but the point deduction and the 10-8 third round swung the fight to Freitas, who won 114-112 on all three scorecards.
Referee Joe Cortez said it appeared that Casamayor was knocked down from a punch. The replay on the overhead camera from Showtime showed that Casamayor slipped while backing up to avoid a punch. Cortez was more justified for taking away the point in the sixth round. He had just warned Casamayor for hitting Freitas behind the head when the two fighters clinched and Casamayor flicked a short right as Cortez was pulling them apart.
Casamayor (26-1, 16 KOs) gave away the first four rounds on all three judges' scorecards, and with the knockdown in the third round he was fighting an uphill battle. He took control of the fight from the fifth round on as he withstood Freitas' vaunted power and had him throwing wild punches. But he couldn't make up the difference.
"Even with the two points taken away I won the fight," Casamayor said. "If he is a true champion, a man, he would give me a rematch."
Jay Larkin, senior VP of sports programming at Showtime, said he would love to do a rematch between the two fighters. But Freitas has mandatories in both the WBA (Lavka Sim) and the WBA (Daniel Attah) that are due soon.
Monday, January 14, 2002
LAS VEGAS - After his controversial unanimous decision over Joel Casamayor on Saturday night for the WBA super-featherweight title, Acelino Freitas said he is not interested in a rematch but is ready to move to the next level: a bout against WBC junior lightweight champ Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Considering the trouble he had with Casamayor, Freitas would be taking a huge step up by meeting Mayweather.
"Mayweather is a great champion and he is next in line," Freitas said. "He deserves a shot to unify the titles and I look forward to it."
Mayweather, who had been planning to move up to lightweight, said he now will consider keeping his WBC 130-pound title and fighting Freitas. Obviously Mayweather liked what he saw at the Cox Pavilion on the UNLV campus on Saturday night.
Freitas (31-0, 29 KOs) needed a controversial knockdown in the third round and a point deduction against Casamayor for hitting on the break in the sixth round to pull out the decision. All three judges scored it six rounds apiece, but the point deduction and the 10-8 third round swung the fight to Freitas, who won 114-112 on all three scorecards.
Referee Joe Cortez said it appeared that Casamayor was knocked down from a punch. The replay on the overhead camera from Showtime showed that Casamayor slipped while backing up to avoid a punch. Cortez was more justified for taking away the point in the sixth round. He had just warned Casamayor for hitting Freitas behind the head when the two fighters clinched and Casamayor flicked a short right as Cortez was pulling them apart.
Casamayor (26-1, 16 KOs) gave away the first four rounds on all three judges' scorecards, and with the knockdown in the third round he was fighting an uphill battle. He took control of the fight from the fifth round on as he withstood Freitas' vaunted power and had him throwing wild punches. But he couldn't make up the difference.
"Even with the two points taken away I won the fight," Casamayor said. "If he is a true champion, a man, he would give me a rematch."
Jay Larkin, senior VP of sports programming at Showtime, said he would love to do a rematch between the two fighters. But Freitas has mandatories in both the WBA (Lavka Sim) and the WBA (Daniel Attah) that are due soon.
