Sat. roundup: Freitas, Shumenov win

Acelino Freitas (39-2, 33 KOs) proved that a world-class fighter, eight years and three weight classes beyond his best, is still better than a prime, over-hyped club fighter as he tore right through fellow Brazilian Michael Oliveira (17-1, 12 KOs) en route to a TKO 9 win at the Hotel & Casino Conrad in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

The former lightweight and super featherweight world champ, thick and stubby like a fireplug, took control from the opening round and never let go, landing just about every power shot flush on the face of Oliveira.

Freitas dropped “The Brazilian Ricky” in the third round and then twice in the ninth before the ref waved off the contest. The overmatched Oliveira, who aggressively pursued this bout with the retired boxer-turned political leader, had no defense, no effective offense, and no answer for anything presented to him.

— Beibut Shumenov (13-1, 8 KOs) made the fourth defense of his WBA light heavyweight title with a unanimous 12-round decision over Enrique Ornelas (33-8, 21 KOs) by three scores of 120-108 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Shumenov did just enough to win each round while Ornelas did just enough to hang in there and lose — likely the idea behind Shumenov signing to meet Ornelas in the first place.

— Twenty-one-year-old Luke Blackledge (10-0, 4 KOs) shocked veteran Mads Larsen (51-4, 38 KOs) with a TKO 4 stoppage over the former world title challenger at the Herning Kongrescenter in Herning, Denmark.

Ranked light heavyweight contender, Karo Murat (25-1-1, 15 KOs) scored a TKO 7 victory over journeyman, Sandro Siproshvili (25-13, 12 KOs).

— Donnie Nietes (30-1-3, 16 KOs) defended his WBO junior flyweight title with a unanimous 12-round decision over Felipe Salguero (16-3-1, 11 KOs) by scores of 116-112, 116-112, and 115-113 at the Resorts World Hotel, Newport Performing Arts Theatre in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

Flyweight, Milan Melindo (27-0, 11 KOs) stopped an overmatched Jesus Geles (13-3-1, 5 KOs) in the first round of a scheduled 12-round bout.

— Moises Fuentes (14-1, 6 KOs) made the second defense of his WBO strawweight title with a first round knockout of Julio César Felix (17-4-0, 7 KOs) in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.

— Andrew “Chango” Cancio (14-1-2, 11 KOs) took a 10-round unanimous decision over veteran Rocky Juarez (28-10-1, 20 KOs) by scores of 98-89, 97-90, and 97-90 in Indio, Calif. Cancio scored two knockdowns in this contest and Juarez scored one. Juarez is now win-less in his last six bouts and hasn’t scored a victory since 2008.