Daniel Attah’s Olympic Route Led to a Clash With Acelino Freitas
Daniel Attah challenged Acelino Freitas for the WBA and WBO super featherweight championships on August 3, 2002, in Phoenix, Arizona. The Nigerian boxer carried Olympic experience into a twelve-round meeting with one of the division’s established champions.
Career highlights
Before his professional world-title opportunity, Attah represented Nigeria at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He competed in the featherweight division and finished equal ninth. His Olympic appearance included a points victory over Lynch Ipera of Papua New Guinea.
That amateur background formed an earlier international milestone in a career that eventually reached the 130-pound championship level. By the time he faced Freitas, Attah was competing for two major sanctioning-body titles in the same contest.
The Freitas championship fight
Freitas and Attah met at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix. The champion completed the twelve-round distance and won a unanimous decision, with all three judges returning scores of 117–110. Freitas retained both belts.
The bout record also notes a point deduction against Freitas in round ten for a low blow. Even with that penalty, the judges agreed on the winner. For Attah, the fight stands as the principal world-title challenge in a profile that also includes representing Nigeria at the Olympics. Both stages show the international level at which he competed, from an amateur tournament to a professional championship card.
Sources
- BoxRec: Freitas–Attah championship result and scorecards
- Olympedia: Atlanta 1996 featherweight tournament
- Olympedia: Attah–Ipera Olympic bout
Article Tags
Daniel Attah, Boxing, Combat sports
