Carson, California - Alex Saucedo returned to the ring from a year layoff to knock out Rod Salka in the opening round of a scheduled eight-round bout.

Saucedo (29-1, 19 KOs), who lost by knockout to Maurice Hooker on Nov. 16 for the WBO junior welterweight title, landed a left hook to the body, dropping Salka (24-6, 4 KOs) to a knee after a delayed reaction.

Referee Edward Collantes immediately stopped the bout at 2:17. Not realizing the fight was over, Salka protested the stoppage, angered that he was able to continue.

For Salka this was his second stoppage in a row. He was blasted out by Francisco Vargas back in April of 2018. In the last three years Salka has averaged one fight per year.

Lightweight Raymond Muratalla battered Arnulfo Becerra before dropping him twice en route to a fifth round knockout. Muratalla (9-0, 7 KOs), who is co-managed by Robert and Mikey Garcia, utilized his speed and punch accuracy to break Becerra (7-3, 5 KOs) down.

A left hook to the body towards the end of round four dropped Becerra to one knee. He would beat the count and was game early in round five, but a combination to the head dropped him again to the canvas. Becerra beat the count, but referee Ray Corona stopped the bout at 51 seconds.