Juan Alejandro Saucedo Ortiz (born June 24, 1994) is a Mexican-born American former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who competed from 2011 to 2020. He challenged for the

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...

light welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

title in 2018. At regional level he held the

- NABO and WBO International light welterweight titles between 2017 and 2018.

Professional career

Saucedo made his professional debut on November 19, 2011, scoring a first-round

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

(TKO) victory over Cedric Sheppard at the

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. After compiling a record of 25–0 (15 KOs) he faced Gustavo David Vittori for the vacant WBA- NABA (USA) and

- NABO light welterweight titles on November 11, 2017, at the

Save Mart Center Save Mart Center at Fresno State is a multi-purpose arena, on the campus of California State University, Fresno (Fresno State), located in Fresno, California. An open house was held for the community on November 5, 2003, with the official ribbon ...

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

. After suffering a cut above his left eye from an accidental clash of heads in the second round, Saucedo upped the pressure in the third to score three knockdowns; left hooks twice sent Vittori to the canvas on one knee, with the end coming after another left hook sent him crashing to the canvas, prompting the referee to wave off the fight and award Saucedo the WBA and WBO regional titles via third-round

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

(KO). He defended the titles in his next fight, facing Abner López on March 10, 2018, at the

StubHub Center Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills, in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dign ...

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. In a closely contested fight Saucedo retained his titles with a seventh-round KO after dropping López with a left hook to the body. For his next fight he dropped the WBO-NABO title in an attempt to add the vacant WBO International title to his collection, facing

Lenny Zappavigna Leonardo Zappavigna (born 27 October 1987) is an Australian professional boxer. He held the IBO lightweight title in 2010 and challenged for the IBF lightweight title in 2011. At regional level he held the IBO Asia Pacific lightweight and IBF ...

on June 30, 2018, at the

Chesapeake Energy Arena Paycom Center (originally known as the Ford Center from 2002 to 2010, Oklahoma City Arena from 2010 to 2011, and Chesapeake Energy Arena from 2011 to 2021) is an arena located in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. It opened in 200 ...

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

. During a gruelling and bloody fight in which both men received cuts – Saucedo over his left eye and Zappavigna over both – Saucedo scored a knockdown in the third round en route to a seventh-round TKO after Zappavigna's

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threw in the towel with 29 seconds left of the round. At the time of the stoppage Saucedo was ahead on the scorecards, with two judges scoring the bout 59–54 while the third scored it 58–55. Following his win over Zappavigna, Saucedo became the

mandatory challenger In professional boxing and some other combat sports, a mandatory challenger is an opponent whom a champion must either fight (in a mandatory defence) or be forced to vacate their title as champion. The opposite of a mandatory defence is a ''volunt ...

for the WBO light welterweight champion,

Maurice Hooker Maurice Dewayne Hooker (born August 7, 1989) is an American professional boxer who held the WBO light welterweight title from 2018 to 2019 and challenged for the WBC light welterweight title in 2019. Professional career Hooker vs. Flanagan ...

. The pair squared off on November 16, 2018, at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Both fighters started the bout with intent; Saucedo moving forward with aggression as Hooker remained on the outside to box at range. Saucedo scored a heavy knockdown in round two, knocking the champion to the canvas with a right hand. Hooker rose to his feet but was visibly hurt, allowing Saucedo to pound away with right hands and uppercuts, leaving the champion with a bloodied nose at the end of the round. Hooker recovered from the knockdown in the next round, sticking behind his trademark jab and landing punches as Saucedo tried to get on the inside. Saucedo found success in the fifth round as he backed the champion onto the ropes, switching his attacks from head to body. Hooker fired back in the final seconds of the round to knock Saucedo off balance. Hooker upped the pressure in the sixth, landing clean punches which began to mark Saucedo's face, causing swelling to his left eye. The pressure continued in the seventh; Hooker landed a right hand which sent Saucedo stumbling into the ropes, prompting referee Mark Nelson to rule it a knockdown and initiate a

standing eight count A standing eight count, also known as a protection count, is a boxing judgment call made by a referee during a bout in order to give an overwhelmed fighter an eight-second respite. When it is invoked, the referee stops the action and counts to e ...

as he deemed the ropes kept Saucedo on his feet. Following Nelson's count, Saucedo was met with a flurry of punches which sent him stumbling across the ring, prompting Nelson to wave off the fight, awarding Hooker a seventh-round TKO victory. At the time of the stoppage Saucedo was losing on the scorecards with two judges scoring the bout 57–56 and the third scoring it 58–55, all in favour of Hooker. According to

CompuBox CompuBox is a computerized punch-tracking system widely used in professional boxing to provide statistical analysis of matches. Established in 1985, it has become an integral tool for broadcasters and analysts, offering viewers quantitative data o ...

stats, Saucedo landed 133 out of 486 (27%) punches and Hooker landed 174 out of 509 (34%). After a year out of the ring he came back in November 2019 to defeat

Rod Salka Rod Salka (born February 28, 1983) is an American professional boxer and politician. Background Born and raised in Bunola, Pennsylvania, Salka served ten years as part of the United States National Guard, joining in 2001. In 2016, he ran as a ...

via first-round KO in a scheduled eight-round bout.

Professional boxing record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saucedo, Alex Living people 1994 births American male boxers Boxers from Chihuahua (state) Light-welterweight boxers Welterweight boxers 21st-century American sportsmen