FREITAS WINS CLOSE DECISION

Ward Over Kolle in TKO

Saturday, April 29

As chants of "Po-po, Po-po" filled the Fox Theatre arena during the final two rounds of Saturday's lightweight bout, Acelino Freitas - the Brazilian boxing legend known as Popo -- and Zahir Raheem each sensed that the fight was up for grabs. With a final flurry, both men tried to make the fight their own, but in the end the decision was left to the judges, who scored it for Freitas in a split decision.

The bout was marred early by an accidental head butt and featured a number of slips and even a frustrated throw-down of Freitas by Raheem in the sixth. In many rounds, Raheem, the more cagey boxer, seemed to be ahead, scoring on straight shots, grappling and staying away from Freitas, who has reputation as a puncher.
Boxing After Dark's Max Kellerman had the fight 7-5 in favor of Raheem, who landed more punches and threw more power punches, but the fighter failed to pull away, and a number of trips may have factored against him. Only one judge gave him the fight, 115-114, while the others called it 115-113 and 116-112 for Freitas.

Andrew Ward remained undefeated with a sixth round TKO of Andy Kolle in their middleweight bout Saturday night.

Ward (9-0), a 2004 Olympic gold medalist, relied on his solid right hand in a contest that was considered the biggest test of his young career. In the final six minutes of the fight, he landed 45 power punches, compared to Kolle's 17. Kolle was staggered in the final moments of the sixth round, and, suffering from an eye injury, his corner would not allow him to enter the ring for the seventh.