Anatoly Alexandrov vs Acelino Freitas

Acelino Freitas won the WBO super-featherweight championship by knocking out Anatoly Alexandrov after 1 minute 41 seconds of the opening round at La Palestre in Le Cannet, France, on August 7, 1999. Referee Mike Ortega completed the count after Alexandrov had been dropped for the second time and left unconscious by the final right hand. Freitas weighed 129½ pounds and Alexandrov 129¼. The scheduled 12-round contest ended before judges Larry Hazzard Jr, Jose Hiram Rivera and Daniel Talon were required to score a round. Alexandrov remained unconscious for several minutes, received oxygen at ringside and was removed on a stretcher before spending the night in hospital.

The 32-year-old champion entered with 35 victories and four defeats. He had won the vacant WBO title from the previously unbeaten Julien Lorcy by majority decision in Paris in May 1998 and had since stopped another unbeaten challenger, Arnulfo Castillo, in eight rounds. Alexandrov had also held the European championship and performed creditably, losing a split decision to WBC champion Genaro Hernandez in 1997. His record did not suggest a vulnerable title-holder. He was an experienced, technically capable boxer who had completed the championship distance and had never previously been stopped as a professional.

Freitas, nine years younger at 23, arrived from Brazil with 20 victories, every one achieved inside the distance. He had boxed professionally for only four years but had already developed a reputation for abrupt attacks and unusually heavy punching at 130 pounds. His previous contest ended when Juan Angel Macias was stopped in the first round in Tijuana. Although Freitas had not met opposition of Alexandrov’s standing, his record made the nature of his challenge plain. He was unlikely to approach the champion cautiously or accept a long examination if an early opening appeared.

The fight opened with both men attempting to establish the jab, but the measured period lasted only a few seconds. Alexandrov carried his left hand low enough to leave a direct route for Freitas’s right. The Brazilian advanced quickly and drove the punch over the champion’s lead hand. Alexandrov was forced backwards and attempted to reorganise himself near the ropes, but Freitas gave him no opportunity to settle. Further right hands placed the champion immediately on the defensive and showed that Freitas’s speed was as important as the weight of his blows.

Freitas pressed again with both hands. A right followed by a left hook sent Alexandrov down for the first recognised knockdown. The champion rose during Ortega’s count but was plainly shaken. He stood upright enough to continue, although his legs had not fully recovered and his guard was no longer compact. Freitas waited only for the referee’s signal before crossing the ring to resume the attack. There was no attempt to conserve energy or draw Alexandrov into another mistake. The challenger understood that the damage had already been done and committed himself to the finish.

Alexandrov retreated as Freitas drove punches through and around his guard. The champion tried to answer, but his reactions had slowed, and he could not prevent the Brazilian from setting the distance for another right. Freitas avoided the attempted reply and struck cleanly with the finishing punch. Alexandrov fell heavily and lay motionless while Ortega counted him out. The right hand, delivered after the earlier attack had already weakened the champion, brought an immediate end at 1:41. Later accounts described it as the characteristic punch of Freitas’s early career: direct, fast and thrown with full commitment once an opponent had been placed under pressure.

The severity of the knockout changed the mood inside the building. Alexandrov required attention from the ringside medical staff, was supplied with oxygen and left the ring on a stretcher. Contemporary reports stated that he had been unconscious for approximately five minutes and remained in hospital overnight. He recovered sufficiently to resume his career five months later, but the defeat ended his WBO reign after one successful defence. Freitas had not been required to demonstrate his stamina, defensive discipline or ability to adjust over a long contest. He had recognised the champion’s low left hand, landed the right and finished with complete efficiency.

The victory made Freitas the third Brazilian to win a widely recognised professional world championship, following Eder Jofre and Miguel de Oliveira. His record advanced to 21–0, all by knockout, and the speed of the result immediately raised his standing at home. He returned to Brazil as a national figure and made his first defence in Salvador, where he stopped Anthony Martinez in two rounds before a crowd reported at more than 40,000. The Alexandrov fight had lasted only 101 seconds, but it established the pattern of the first portion of Freitas’s reign. Opponents who allowed him to begin quickly could find themselves overwhelmed before the contest had developed into an ordinary championship match.

Anatoly Alexandrov was no paper champion. He had beaten the unbeaten Julien Lorcy for the WBO super-featherweight title, stopped Arnulfo Castillo in his first defence and previously pushed the excellent Genaro Hernandez to a split decision. But Acelino Freitas arrived in France at 23 with 20 wins and 20 knockouts, and you could see immediately that Alexandrov had never felt anything like that speed and spite.

The danger was Alexandrov’s low left hand. Against an ordinary fighter, you might get away with that. Against Freitas, it was asking to get cracked on the whiskers. Popo drove the right hand over the top, forced him backwards and then let both hands go before the champion could reset. Alexandrov went down, got up badly hurt and was immediately under the cosh again.

The finish was brutal. Freitas landed another sharp sequence and finished with a straight right that left Alexandrov unconscious. It was stopped at 1:41 of the first round, with the Russian needing oxygen before being taken from the ring on a stretcher. Freitas became Brazil’s first major world champion for 24 years and extended his knockout run to 21 straight victories.

For me, this was not Alexandrov being poor. He was a proven, capable champion who made one technical mistake against a frightening puncher. Freitas saw the opening and did the business without wasting a single movement. That is proper finishing.