Maurice Hooker leaves the ground to stop Alex Saucedo

By Keith Idec

Alex Saucedo could not survive this attack.

Maurice Hooker traveled to Saucedo's home town, home of Saucedo's incredible comeback against Lenny Zappavigna on June 30, and eliminated the challenger from the match in the seventh round on Friday night. Dallas Hooker defeated his opponent in the second round, managed to do it in the seventh round and finished Saucedo a few seconds later.

Referee Mark Nelson ended their bout at 1:36 of the seventh round at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, about three kilometers from where Saucedo grew up on the south side of Oklahoma City. .

Hooker, 29 (25-0-3, 17 KO), defended Terry Flanagan (33-2, 13 KO) by split decision on June 9 in Manchester, England. , The birthplace of Flanagan. Saucedo, 24, suffered the first defeat of his professional career (28-1, 18 KO).

"I and my team had a good game plan," Hooker said. "We stayed there and we came out victorious. I have to thank God, my boy Alex, who was my friend before this fight, always my boy and [trainer] Abel [Sanchez]. They had a good game plan, stuck to that. It's a hell of a fighter. "

Hooker did not panic when Saucedo, on the right, dropped 49 seconds after the start of the second round.

"I am a true champion," said Hooker. "I stayed calm, I stayed relaxed. The third round, I came back. I stayed relaxed. He is young, as I said, he is hungry and he comes to fight.

"My trainer and I knew that if we had passed the four laps, he was tired. … I knew [after the fourth]it's time for me to resume the fight. But I knew that the first laps would be hard for me, really hard, because it was coming. "

An aggressive Hooker went on the offensive early in the seventh round and injured his former training partner with a right right hand. Another right hand clutched Saucedo's legs. He stumbled and the ropes held him in place in 1:56 to go into the seventh.

Nelson correctly counted this as a reversal. Hooker wasted no time attacking Saucedo once the action continued.

A right hand, followed by a left and another right, hit defenseless Saucedo in the ropes and forced Nelson to stop the fight.

"I thought I was standing," Saucedo said. "But it's just that the cut [over his left eye] started to annoy me and I could not do anything. I could not see. I could not see my left eye. So it was from that moment that I got hit harder, and I mean This is boxing. That's what happens. You must learn from this. "

Hooker connected with two straight hands straight in the first 30 seconds of the sixth round, while Saucedo advanced, hands down. Hooker cut Saucedo with a small left hook about 1:20 of the sixth.

Just before the end of the sixth round, Saucedo and Hooker exchanged power shots during a vicious exchange in the center of the ring.

About a minute after the fifth round, Saucedo hit Hooker and went to the chest. Saucedo did not make a lot of free kicks when Hooker's back was against the ropes, but Saucedo spared no effort to put pressure on the champion and shot him more than he did.

Hooker kept his energy and tried to steal the puck with a flurry of punches eight seconds from the end.

Hooker made Saucedo lose balance with a small left hook about 30 seconds after the start of the fourth lap. The defending champion was also able to better use his jab and kept Saucedo at a safer distance in the fourth lap than in the previous three rounds.

Hooker and Saucedo continued to fight at a furious pace in the third round. Neither fighter seems to have hurt his opponent in this round.

Saucedo dropped Hooker with a score of 2:11 to advance to the second round. Hooker got up and did his best to stay clear of Saucedo's strike range.

Saucedo swung Hooker with another right hand at 1:18 of the second round, but Hooker was more successful than the punch that knocked him down.

Hooker came back to grab Saucedo with his right hand while there was 22 seconds remaining in the second round. That shot set Saucedo ahead and made Hooker finish off that difficult round.

Saucedo suddenly raised Hooker's head with a sharp blow after 32 seconds of fighting. Saucedo's jab continued to land later in the first lap, when he also laid several left hands on Hooker's body.

Hooker was busier on this first round because he was unofficially credited with hitting 28 of his 109 strikes in the first three minutes.

Keith Idec is senior writer / columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be contacted on Twitter @ Idecboxing.