The fighting pride of Oklahoma City put forth a clinic in Las Vegas. Junior welterweight contender Alex Saucedo, fighting for the second time since falling short in a world title bid, bested Sonny Fredrickson by unanimous decision Tuesday evening at the MGM Grand Conference Center — Grand Ballroom.
The scores (100-90, 99-91 and 98-92) were lopsided in favor of Saucedo (30-1, 19 KOs), who used sustained pressure to pile up the points.
According to CompuBox, Saucedo outlanded Fredrickson, 318-172.
Fredrickson (21-3, 14 KOs), from Toledo, Ohio, dropped his second fight in a row.
“We worked on a lot of things in the gym. It was important for me to get the rounds in, and Sonny was a tough opponent,” Saucedo said. “I am ready to take over the 140-pound division. 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.”
You’ve got to be more than a little disappointed in Saucedo’s performance tonight if you’re a fan or his trainer. He didn’t show any progress from his flawed efforts against former WBO light welterweight champion Maurice Hooper and Leonardo Zappavigna. Saucedo, 26, is still getting hit too much for his own good.
Fredrickson was capable of winning this fight if he’d thrown more punches, used his jab more, and stayed off the ropes. When Fredrickson would backup against the ropes, Saucedo would take advantage of it by nailing him with hard shots. The 6’1″ Fredrickson failed to use his height and his jab to control the shorter Saucedo, and he made the fight easier for him.
All in all, it wasn’t a good effort from Saucedo, and he’s kidding himself if he believes he’s going to take control of the 140-lb division. That’s not happening. It would be a good idea for Top Rank to continue to feed him easy marks for a while to see if he can improve. It might be a good idea to get Saucedo a new trainer that can help him.
— Josue “The Prodigy” Vargas hit Salvador Briceno with everything, including the kitchen sink. After 10 rounds, Briceno was still standing, and Vargas earned a unanimous decision by scores of 100-90 2x and 99-91. Vargas (17-1, 9 KOs), a rising junior welterweight contender, extended his winning streak to 11. Briceno (17-6, 11 KOs) fell to 2-3 in his last five outings.
— Junior welterweight prospect John “El Terrible” Bauza (14-0, 5 KOs) returned from a nearly yearlong layoff, besting “Lethal” Larry Fryers (11-3, 4 KOs) by eight-round unanimous decision (80-72 2x and 79-73).
— Two weeks after a decision loss inside “The Bubble,” Detroit native Isiah Jones (9-2, 3 KOs) rebounded to defeat the previously undefeated Donte Stubbs (6-1, 2 KOs) via majority decision in a six-round middleweight bout. Jones, the first Bubble returnee, prevailed by scores of 57-57, 58-56 and 59-55.
