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Charlie Sheehy’s precision, speed and skill enabled him to beat Abdel Sauceda pretty easily in their eight-round lightweight fight Thursday in Las Vegas.
Sheehy thoroughly outboxed Sauceda and beat him by unanimous decision on the Teofimo Lopez-Jamaine Ortiz undercard at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino’s Michelob ULTRA Arena. Judges Eric Cheek, Glenn Feldman and Steve Weisfeld all scored Sheehy the winner by shutout, 80-72.
Sheehy, of Brisbane, California, upped his record to 9-0 (5 KOs). Sauceda (12-4, 8 KOs), of Monterrey, Mexico, has lost three of his past four fights.
Sauceda showed toughness, but he couldn’t hurt Sheehy with any of the punches he infrequently landed. The smoother Sheehy, however, worked well off his jab, regularly punched in combination and consistently connected with the more impactful punches.
Earlier Thursday, Alan Garcia gave a brief glimpse of his potential.
The junior welterweight prospect from Ulysses, Kansas dropped Tomas Ornelas twice in the first round and beat him by technical knockout only 51 seconds into their scheduled six-rounder. Referee Celestino Ruiz stopped their bout after Denver’s Ornelas got up from the second knockdown.
Garcia’s left hook sent Ornelas to his gloves and knees just 16 seconds into their bout. Ornelas got up and continued, but Garcia drilled him with a right to his head and a left hook to his body that knocked Ornelas to the seat of his trunks 39 seconds into the first round.
Garcia improved to 11-0 and produced his ninth knockout. Ornelas dropped to 7-4 (5 KOs).
In the previous fight Thursday, Lemir Isom Riley pulled off the upset he sought Thursday night in Las Vegas.
The unheralded heavyweight scored two knockdowns during the third round and stopped Antonio Zepeda in their scheduled six-rounder. Referee Thomas Taylor halted the action at 1:28 of the third round, once Zepeda went down to one knee a second time.
The 6-foot-6, 299-pound Zepeda (6-2, 6 KOs), a former UNLV football player, lost a second straight fight. Riley, of New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, improved to 4-2 (1 KO, 1 NC).
In the first fight on the Lopez-Ortiz undercard, junior welterweight prospect Art Barrera Jr. knocked out Michael Portales in the first round of a scheduled four-rounder.
Barrera (3-0, 3 KOs), of Paramount, California, caught Portales with a counter left hook in an exchange that left Portales flat on his back, beneath a bottom rope, with 1:25 on the clock in the opening round. Their fight was stopped soon thereafter, despite Portales’ protest once he reached his feet.
Portales, of Hayward, California, slipped to 3-3-1 (1 KO).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
