Acelino Freitas vs Artur Grigorian

On January 3, 2004, at Connecticut's Foxwoods Resort, a historic moment unfolded as Acelino Freitas, in a dominant performance that featured multiple knockdowns, moved up to lightweight and dethroned the long-reigning WBO champion, Artur Grigorian. This bout marked Grigorian's attempt at an 18th title defence after a year-long layoff due to a shoulder injury.

Freitas, making his lightweight debut after unifying titles at super featherweight, systematically broke down Grigorian's resistance through the middle rounds. Despite knockdowns in the fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth rounds, the champion kept the contest competitive. However, Freitas's aggressive style did lead to a point deduction in the tenth round for landing a low blow.

The final scorecards reflected Freitas's control of the bout—judges Melvina Lathan and Don O'Neill both scored it 116-107, while Clark Sammartino had it 115-108. The victory ended Grigorian's lengthy reign, which began in April 1996 when he captured the vacant title against Antonio Rivera in Germany.

This performance extended Freitas's unbeaten record to 35-0 while establishing him as a two-division world champion. For Grigorian, the loss marked his first professional defeat and the end of an era that had seen him hold the WBO lightweight title for nearly eight years.

The bout's significance lay not just in Freitas's successful move up in weight but also in ending one of boxing's longest championship reigns. Grigorian's shoulder injury and subsequent layoff proved too much to overcome against Freitas's aggressive, multi-dimensional attack.