Over the weekend, boxer Wanderlei Silva suffered a brutal knockout after being disqualified from his fight with Acelino Freitas. The altercation left him hospitalized with several injuries, and the fighter continues to walk the long road to recovery.
The incident occurred after Silva was disqualified from his match with Freitas due to a foul. Things got heated when members of both sides stepped into the ring, turning the match into a free-for-all punch fest where Silva ended up getting knocked out. Despite the tragedy, fingers have been pointed in different directions. Some blame Silva for allowing his team to get into a brawl with the opponent’s side after his loss, while others blame Freitas for letting it escalate and involving his son, Rafael Freitas, who knocked Silva out.
Until recently, Rafael Freitas had remained quiet, but he broke his silence in an interview with Globo, explaining why he attacked Silva after the boxing match.
“When I realized a brawl had started, initiated by Wanderlei’s team — his son, his coach Andre Dida, and Werdum,” Freitas said, “I saw all of them assaulting my father and my brothers. I got in legitimate defense. In the heat of the moment, I only thought about defending my family.”
Since the attack, Freitas has blamed Silva’s teammate Fabricio Werdum for stepping into the ring after the fight and escalating the issue. However, Silva has a different version and even chastised Rafael Freitas for his actions.
“Popo’s’ team entered the ring after the result and came at us, pointing fingers and cursing, like they’ve been doing all week,” Wanderlei Silva said in a separate video. “At no moment did I assault anybody. I was there holding people and then got hit in the back of the head, and then punched in the eye. I was cowardly assaulted. As you can see, my eye is still bleeding and I have a lot of headache.”
As of now, Silva is still in recovery, but his lawyer says they plan to sue Rafael Freitas for his actions.
