In what turned out to be a slugfest and a bloody bath of boxing, Alex Saucedo (28-0, 18 KO's) withstood all that the super tough veteran Lenny Zappavigna (37-4, 27 KO's) dished out, including almost getting knocked out in the fourth round and he still prevailed with the win.
A win in front of his hometown fans that filled the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma that brought down the house when Saucedo dropped the Australian from down under with a right hand in the third round.
This was only the beginning of what was to come later on in the fight as Zappavigna quickly got up from that knockdown and came out swinging as Saucedo attempted to finish it right there.
In what appeared to be a flashback of an Arturo Gatti - Ward fight, the crowd got all they wanted and more as the fight went back and forth with punch after punch from both fighters.
Punches that were thrown with everything on the end of them in an effort to end it at any point of the fight. Every punch in the book was thrown by each fighter at a non-stop pace, which appeared to be the game plan by the veteran Zappavigna.
And that game plan continued in the fourth round after he was dropped in the previous round, when he suddenly caught Saucedo with a huge right hand that rocked him back and almost knocked him out. Zappavigno then jumped on Saucedo in the corner in an effort to finish him off, but somehow Saucedo was able to get out of trouble and made it to the bell.
With all the punches being thrown, Zappavi was bleeding from his right eye before the beginning of the fourth round and Saucedo was bleeding from his right eye as the fifth round started.
This was the beginning of all the bleeding by both fighters and it got worse as the fight continued. Despite the cuts, it went on as if nothing had happened.
In the sixth round, with blood flowing from both fighters at one point of the round, they stood in front of each other just slugging it out as the crowd in attendance went wild. Zappavigna was not only cut over both eyes, but his left eye was almost shut.
And at the beginning of the seventh round, Saucedo went after Zappavigna with punches aimed at the the left eye of his opponent. And it was in this round that Saucedo found another gear and began wailing ferocious combinations on the Australian and Zappavigna's corner began waiving to the referee to stop the fight.
The fight was stopped, although Zappavigna probably could have continued if he was not cut up so bad and not being able to see from his left eye.
The Saucedo fan filled arena erupted at the stoppage was at the last 29 seconds of the round, in front of a sellout crowd on the Top Rank card who also promotes the junior welterweight from Oklahoma City.
After the fight, the boxing world is hoping to see the number one ranked Saucedo take on Dallas' Maurice "Mighty Mo" Hooker (24-3, 16KO's), the newly crowned WBO Junior Welterweight champion of the world. Hooker recently captured his title by going to England and defeating Terry Flanagan in his hometown.
After the fight, Saucedo said he is willing to fight Hooker anywhere, including Dallas.