A WINNING TEAM

No one was accusing Oscar Suarez of incompetence, or even bad judgement. The New Jersey-based trainer, recently established as one of the game's best, had come too far for that. Rather, it seemed that Suarez was ruining all the fun. 

He was the dormitory monitor who had ordered the beer keg removed because it wasn't appropriate for 18-year-old university students to be drinking -even if it was a Saturday night. He was the financial adviser who had called a halt to the joyous shopping spree after the purchase of a diamond-embedded Rolex and three Armani suits -and before a visit to the local Jaguar dealership. What Suarez was really doing was his job -beginning to turn the world's best junior lightweight, the undefeated but hardly unflawed Acelino Freitas, into a complete fighter. 

From a fan's perspective, here was the problem: Before the introduction of Suarez, Brazil's Freitas was 29-0 with 29 KOs. In his next three fights, he went 3-0, including a career-defining unification win over Joel Casamayor, but with no KOs."Popo" was far more entertaining when he was far less complete, no-no? Freitas's local trainers, said Suarez, oversaw workouts that consisted of a time clock, a towel, and whatever Freitas wanted to do". 

And nutrition? Sure, Freitas had been struggling to make weight. But he wasn't too big for the 130-pound class. He just wasn't being prepared properly. Freitas' fourth fight under Suarez came on 15 March, a defence against Mexican veteran Juan Carlos"Ranchero" Ramirez in Chicago. 

I worked the fight for Showtime, and the first question asked of me was:"Do Freitas's recent results suggest that he's becoming a well-rounded fighter? Or has he lost his power?" My answer was a simple one: Freitas hasn't lost his power. 

But if he doesn't knock out Ramirez, a smaller fighter who's been stopped twice and downed at least six times, there's legitimate reason for concern. In scoring points wins over Alfred Kotey, Casamayor (which Freitas fought with a damaged right hand), and Daniel Attah, Freitas was satisfied. But in the days leading to his rumble with Ranchero, he added to the pressure by dedicating the fight to his father, who had died three months earlier.

"Every time I would get ready to fight," Freitas said,"my father would ask for a knockout. So this will be a knockout." Concussion on command. Interviewed 11 days after the fight, Suarez agreed."Ramirez was made for Freitas," he said."That's why we picked him. The style was there. When someone is in front of Popo É A Mexican stand-up fighter, you punch him off angles and he's gonna hit your gloves with his face.

"Oscar Suarez knows something not only about Popo, but also about pop. He made his name by training one of today's hardest hitters, Naseem Hamed, for The Prince's six most recent fights."If you ask me to compare the power of Naseem with Freitas, I can answer in the blink of an eye," Suarez said."Naseem has way more devastating power. Acelino has to be on his feet. 

Naz can hit you from mid-air and take you out. But Acelino is the more intelligent fighter and physically stronger than Naseem." Suarez's work with Hamed and Freitas, as well as super middleweight contender Omar Sheika and most recently Puerto Rican lightweight prospect Juan Golo Gomez Trinidad, has resulted in a reputation that is every trainer's dream: Name fighters, such as Johnny Tapia and junior feather champion Joan Guzman, are now calling him. Suarez is the father of six children -and the grandfather of six more. All this and he's only 41. 

(His first son was born when Oscar was 17, and that son, in turn, had his first child at the same age.) He was born in Puerto Rico and moved to the USA for good in 1981. He and his wife Marie live in West Berlin, New Jersey. As has been the case with a handful of top trainers (Teddy Atlas, Emanuel Steward, and Eddie Futch come to mind), Suarez was an accomplished amateur fighter who never turned pro. 

He engaged in 89 bouts and, after his last contest in 1981, was approached by Lou Duva about punching for pay. But two broken collarbones and a fractured wrist ended that dream before Suarez reached the age of 20."When I was coming up," Suarez said,"my stepbrother Pedro Alindato [a useful pro featherweight in the '80s] and I didn't have a trainer. We trained each other in Puerto Rico. I was always correcting guys in the gym. I guess God gave me that gift from an early age.

" At the Lou Costello Gym in Paterson, New Jersey, Suarez began sharing that gift with good fighters such as Diego Rosario and the Toledo brothers, Frankie and David. His mentor is a true gentleman, trainer Tommy Parks, best known for his long association with two-division world champion Bobby Czyz.

"Tommy was an excellent coordinator, and he could correct things," Suarez said."If he told you to throw a jab and you didn't do it correctly, he'd make you do it 100 times."Oscar became a good trainer because he learned the basics and improved upon them instead of teaching his own style," Parks said."For instance, if Cus D'Amato had a fighter who could fight the style he taught, that fighter would be real good. 

If not, the fighter would go elsewhere."Oscar wasn't overly proud. He'd listen and try things out. You have to treat each fighter differently, of course. Oscar would teach things in a way that the boxer would absorb it without being resentful. Mistakes can be subtle. Oscar saw things, like transferring weight at the exact moment of striking, or extending the jab without hyperextending the elbow.

" From an early age, Hamed had been trained in a wildly unconventional manner by Brendan Ingle. After adviser Charles Muniz brought Suarez aboard, certain changes were made. But not all at once."What shocked me the most was the talent Naz had," Suarez said."As a 12-year-old, they'd tie his hands behind his back and he'd make them miss. In my time, I don't think I'll see someone like him again. 

And I will always appreciate him. For a kid from England to give a kid from Paterson, New Jersey, a chance É Today I can feed my family by doing what I love to do."People think Naseem is difficult. But he's easy; he loved to train. 

The music, though, drove me crazy [laughs]. Naseem is not a gym fighter. Still, I made him spar, with hitting to the head [which Ingle forbade], and I got him used to headgear. And he had never run the way he ran with me. For the [Vuyani] Bungu fight, he was in the best shape of his life. We trained that way for [Marco Antonio] Barrera, but mentally, something was bothering him. To be honest, I don't know what it was." Asked if he thought Hamed still wanted to fight, Suarez was blunt."Honestly, no," he said."Naz has a big ego. The Naz I trained for [Paul] Ingle and Bungu would've fought Barrera again by now. 

If I ever see that fire in his eyes again, I know he'll destroy Barrera." Suarez's run with Hamed ended after The Prince's unimpressive comeback win over Manuel Calvo last May. Hamed, Suarez claims, wanted exclusivity, an issue that had first surfaced during training for his August 2000 KO of Augie Sanchez. 

At the time, Suarez was preparing Sheika for his title shot against Joe Calzaghe."After Calvo," Suarez explained,"I told him: 'I've given you for years of my life, but I have a family and a lot of young, talented fighters.' I said: 'You're not paying me for exclusivity. If you want exclusivity, pay me and I'll sit home and wait for you to call.' I'd be more than happy to train Naz again [assuming exclusivity was not required]." Life with Naz was also complicated by the presence of arguably the best trainer in the sport, Emanuel Steward. Brought aboard by Hamed's brother-manager Riath, The Wizard of Kronk shared the corner with Suarez. Oscar's ego-free nature aside, the combination created several awkward moments."There was definitely a big argument about it," recalled Suarez."I'm the chief trainer and I'm not gonna carry a bucket for nobody. 

And Emanuel is a legendary trainer and he's not gonna do it either. It wasn't gonna work because Manny saw me as a threat, I guess. He saw a young guy and he said it to my face: 'Oscar, I'm impressed with you.'" Steward and Hamed parted company after the loss to Barrera. Emanuel and Suarez teamed up for five Hamed fights in total."I got along with him on a personal level, and I still do," Suarez said."I learned a lot from Manny."Before a raucous and pro-Ramirez crowd at the University of Illinois-Chicago (the city has a considerable Mexican population), Freitas, 27, climbed through the ropes with a full arsenal."If his right hand had been even 50%, he would've knocked out Casamayor," Suarez said of his charge."After the Attah fight, he had the time to do the therapy, and he was fine for Ramirez.

" After watching Popo crashing rights against Ranchero's head, I'm not one to poo-poo that analysis. The 25-year-old Ranchero, who had lost with heart in world title fights vs Luisito Espinosa (featherweight) and Erik Morales (junior featherweight), boxed cautiously in round one. In the second, however, Ramirez, 130lbs, Juarez, Mexico, couldn't help himself. And Freitas, 130lbs, Salvador, Brazil, was more than happy to satisfy the Mexican's brawling instincts. Spinning off the ropes, the quicker Freitas, 33-0 (30 KOs), controlled the exchanges. 

With 55 seconds remaining, Ramirez, 29-5 (12 KOs), cuffed the champion's head with a left hook. Freitas slipped to the canvas, but referee Gino Rodriguez, who made one sloppy call after another, ruled a knockdown. Five seconds into the third, Freitas connected with a big right, and for all intent and purposes, the fight was over. 

Ramirez's right knee touched the canvas, but this time, Rodriguez ruled no knockdown. Shortly after, Ramirez found himself against the ropes, and Freitas offered no escape routes. Firing booming rights and then stepping back as if to reload, Freitas dropped the challenger with 32 seconds remaining. Ranchero rose at seven. 

The fight could've been stopped then and there."You want to keep going?" Ramirez was asked by his one of his corner team before the start of the fourth round."Yes," he answered without hesitation. The fight lasted only 19 seconds into the round, with Freitas convincing Rodriguez by scoring with two huge rights and a right uppercut. Upon the referee's intervention, Popo broke into tears. Clearly, his father was foremost in his mind. Minutes later, he was on a cell phone, wishing his mother a happy birthday.

Hopefully, he has a good long distance plan. The judges were Bill Lerch and Mike Pernick of the USA and Medardo Villalobos of Panama.Where will Popo's power surface next? He dismisses a rematch with Casamayor (ÒI beat him already"), and unlike most top American fighters, doesn't engage in much trash-talking or name-calling. 

The only fight he seems to crave, according to Suarez, is a showdown with lightweight titlist Floyd Mayweather Jr. If that multimillion-dollar fight ever materialises, or an equally lucrative clash with Morales, who may soon rise from featherweight, presents itself, Freitas has been trained to offer much more than a lethal left hook and a sizzling straight right. But fans are grateful for what the Brazilian's explosive performance against Ramirez suggested: Suarez isn't going to be Popo's party-pooper.