Alex Saucedo attacked with bad intentions from the opening bell, outpunching and outlanding Sonny Fredrickson to win a decision Tuesday.
Alex Saucedo gave his performance a C+ after he outpointed Sonny Fredrickson on Tuesday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Fredrickson probably would give him a higher grade.
Saucedo attacked with bad intentions from the opening bell, outpunching and outlanding his opponent by large margins to win a wide decision in a 10-round junior welterweight bout in what has become known as the bubble at the MGM Grand.
The scores were 99-91, 98-92 and 100-90, all for Saucedo, who has now won two in a row since he was stopped by then 140-pound titleholder Maurice Hooker last July.
“I am a more disciplined fighter, but I’m still an aggressive fighter who goes for the knockout. That won’t change,” Saucedo said.
Indeed, Saucedo (30-1, 19 KOs) has been trying to refine his technique to avoid taking an inordinate number of punches, as has been the case in some fights. And he showed signs of evolving into a more responsible boxer.
However, he was largely the same Saucedo we’ve come to know, a warrior who comes at you hard and essentially doesn’t let up. Fredrickson (21-3, 14 KOs) had his moments, especially in the middle of the ring, but the taller fighter couldn’t keep Saucedo off him enough to win rounds.
The winner threw 885 punches, according to CompuBox. That’s a busy 88.5 per round. And of his 318 shots that landed, 201 were power shots. Fredrickson was 172 of 584 overall.
Saucedo hurt Fredrickson with an overhand right late in the first round and followed with a number of bombs but Fredrickson, tough and determined if overmatched, survived and continued to fight back.
The product of Toledo, Ohio, seemed to find his range in the middle rounds, when he followed a pretty consistent, long jab with some solid power shots. His uppercut was particularly effective at times.
The ever-aggressive Saucedo simply worked harder than Fredrickson in the late rounds to secure the victory.
Saucedo, bitterly disappointed with his performance against Hooker, wants another shot at a world title as soon as possible. And he feels the work he put in Tuesday night will help him.
“I am ready to take over the 140-pound division,” he said. “Whatever opportunity comes my way, I will take advantage of it. Most importantly, I got rid of the ring rust and went 10 hard rounds.”
In preliminaries, junior welterweight prospect Josue Vargas (17-1, 9 KOs) of Bronx, N.Y., overcome several obstacles to defeat Salvador Briceno (17-6, 11 KOs) of Mexico by a near-shutout decision in a 10-round bout.
Vargas learned shortly before the fight that his father/trainer Hilario Vargas wouldn’t be working his corner because he had left the controlled bubble, he suffered a cut above his left eye in the second round and he had his two front teeth knocked out in the fourth round.
In spite of all that, Vargas, boxing beautifully, outclassed the bigger, forward-charging Briceno the entire fight, beating him to the punch, outworking him and taking relatively few shots himself to win by scores of 99-91, 100-90 and 100-90.
Junior welterweight prospect John Bauza () of Puerto Rico defeated Lawrence Fryers (11-3, 4 KOs) of Ireland by a wide decision in an eight-round fight. The scores were 79-73, 80-72 and 80-72.
And, in a six-round middleweight bout, Isiah Jones (9-2, 3 KOs) of Detroit defeated Donte Stubbs (6-1, 2 KOs) of Riverside, California, by a majority decision. The scores were+ 57-57, 59-55 and 58-56.
