Acelino Freitas' 12th-round knockout of Argentinian contender Jorge Barrios last Saturday night was a good action fight with a sensational ending. A certain boxing observer who shall here remain nameless (Brian Kenny) went so far as to call it 2003's Fight of the Year.

While Freitas-Barrios was no James Toney-Vassily Jirov or Arturo Gatti-Micky Ward III, its final two rounds were perhaps as dramatic an ending as any this year.

After an even, back and forth, somewhat awkward brawl over the first 10 rounds, Barrios floored Ring Magazine's top rated 130-pounder in the 11th with a right hand. Brazil's only boxing superstar rose on unsteady legs, but since his mouthpiece was knocked out by the punch that sent him down, he was given extra time to recover as the referee would not let the action continue until the mouthpiece was rinsed and put back in.

Right at the end of the round, Freitas landed a tremendous right hand of his own, which first froze and then dropped Barrios.

Freitas' knockdown punch landed virtually at the bell, so as soon as Barrios beat the count and demonstrated to the ref's satisfaction that he was able to continue, the round was declared over and the fighters returned to their corners. The minute rest was not enough time for Barrios to fully recover, and Freitas stopped him in the 12th.

Barrios' toughness was overshadowed only by his resourcefulness. Whenever the fighters were broken out of a clinch, he would wipe off the bleeding cut over his left eye on the ref's shirt. Barrios has earned another big fight.

Freitas, meanwhile, is vulnerable. The winner of the October 4th showdown between Joel Casamayor and Diego Corrales should be favored to beat Freitas. Many feel that Casamayor deserved the win against Freitas when the two fought in Jan. 2001, and Corrales' arrow-straight bombs figure to present the wide punching Freitas with a serious matchup problem.

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The night before Freitas-Barrios, we had Jermain Taylor in against tough but limited Freddie Cuevas on Friday Night Fights. Taylor won every round and looked like the future of the middleweight division.

However, Jermain ate far too many right hands, and was forced to go the distance against an outclassed and outgunned opponent. Taylor is big, strong, young and skilled, and the middleweight ranks are thin. But he is not yet quite ready for the division's elite.

Taylor's apparent advantage over fellow prospect-cum-contender Jeff Lacy in their two-man race to the top of the 160-168 pound neighborhood is his greater hand and foot speed, mobility and versatility. For Lacy's part, his punching power and forward-fighting style are more aesthetically compelling than Taylor's well-rounded approach.

In Lacy's last fight, though, it was unclear in the middle rounds that he would even be able to get by Richard Grant, who was having a good deal of success boxing from the outside. Lacy did come on strong late to leave no doubt about his superiority, and Grant did outbox super middleweight contender James Butler, so he's not exactly a pushover. Still, Grant was knocked out in three rounds by Antwun Echols, so Lacy's performance indicates that he, too, has some developing to do before he challenges top contenders.

And while we're on the topic of middleweight-ish prospects, this week on Friday Night Fights (in our prelim!) we have Anthony Thompson. Thompson is perhaps the most talented, young (he'll be 22 in a few days) welterweight/junior middleweight prospect in the world. He is now 11-0 (8), has real speed and skills, and good punching power.

Thompson has never been past six rounds, and sure, we do not yet know how he will react to pressure or a good punch. That said, he is an exciting prospect having his coming out party on our air this week, and you don't want to miss it. See you there.

Max Kellerman is a studio analyst for ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights" and the host of the show "Around The Horn."