SoCal Fights: Alex Saucedo Defeats Clarence Booth in L.A.

By David A. Avila

LOS ANGELES- With junior welterweights losing contenders every day to the more lucrative welterweight division, Alex Saucedo put his name on the list of prospects ready to step up in class with his hard-fought victory over Clarence Booth on Saturday.

A crowd of more than 1,400 at the historic Sportsmen’s Lodge saw Saucedo (21-0, 14 KOs) use his reach and sharpness to out-hustle the game Booth (13-2, 7 KOs) of Florida. The Top Rank card did not disappoint with a wide array of fighters from different divisions.

Saucedo connected early and seemed to stun Booth in the second round who lost his mouthpiece from a right cross. He survived that round but won the third round with a steady jab that kept catching Saucedo in between steps. It was good work by Booth.

Jabs can go two ways and Saucedo showed he could emulate Booth as he traded jabs and sent power body shots as a companion piece. Booth withstood the assault.

Booth has a habit of being careful not to over-extend himself as he punches, almost as if he pulls back before fully extending his blows. The little hitch in his punches keeps him from packing full power in his punches. He never came close to hurting Saucedo though he did connect.

The judges can differentiate who is hurting who and whose punches hurt more. It was clear Saucedo’s blows packed more power.

In the eighth and final round, Saucedo connected with a combination that forced Booth to hang on. He made it to the bell but all three judges saw Saucedo the winner 79-73 twice and 78-74. There were no knockdowns.

Other bouts

Andy Vences (15-0, 10 KOs) took round by round over Mexico’s Yardley Suarez (14-2, 8 KOs) who seemed tentative in his first marquee fight. Vences never seemed to hurt Suarez who was in strictly survival mode until the final 30 seconds of the one-sided fight. No knockdowns were scored in the super featherweight showdown.

Toka Clary (18-0-1, 12 KOs) of Providence stopped Mexico’s Gabino Cota (18-6-1, 16 KOs) at 48 seconds into the sixth round in their junior lightweight contest. Clary was the busier and more accurate fighter throughout the fight. In the sixth round Clary stepped on the gas and unloaded about 30 unanswered blows to force referee Raul Caiz to halt the fight.

Ukraine’s Oleksandr Govzdyk (9-0, 7 KOs) seemingly toyed with West Virginia’s Michael Snider in their light heavyweight clash. Govzdyk floored Snider with a short counter right. Then he decked Snider with a right uppercut to the chin. Finally, a left hook to the body ended the fight at 2:58 of the first round.

Lithuania’s Egidijus Kavaliauskas (12-0, 11 KOs) blew out Cleveland’s Prenice Brewer (17-4-1, 6 KOs) at 1:24 of the second round. He had floored Brewer in the first round of their welterweight match set for eight rounds. Kavaliauskas trains with Robert Garcia Academy in Oxnard.

Kazakhstan’s Madiyar Ashkeyev (2-0) out-hustled New York’s Oba Bakare (3-1) over six rounds to win by unanimous decision. Ashkeyev was the harder puncher and was more effective in the match that was fought mostly in close quarters. Two judges scored it 59-55 and the other 58-56 for Ashkyev in the super welterweight fight.

Glendale’s Vatch Martirosyan out-boxed Houston’s Antonio Wattell to win by unanimous decision after four rounds in a super lightweight bout. Martirosyan scored a knockdown in the second round with a perfect left hook. All three judges scored it 39-36 for Martirosyan, the younger brother of Vanes Martirosyan who was in the audience.

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