by Francisco Salazar

Bantamweight prospect Saul Sanchez had to dig deep to win a close eight round majority decision over Fernando Saavedra Friday night at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California.

It was a crossroads bout between an unbeaten fighter and a veteran that produced an evenly-matched battle that provided fireworks between the two.

Sanchez was the aggressor from the opening bell, throwing and landing two and three-punch combinations to the head and body of Saavedra. By the middle rounds, Saavedra hung in the pocket with Sanchez, utilizing his ring savvy to counter Sanchez with left hooks and right crosses.

Both fighters had their moments in the second half of the fight. To offset Saavedra's aggression, Sanchez, who resides in the Los Angeles suburb of Pacoima, chose to box, moving in and out of Saavedra's reach.

Round eight was one of the best of the fight as Sanchez and Saavedra stood in the pocket trading punches until the final bell sounded.

One judge scored the bout 76-76, while the other two judges scored the bout 77-75 for Sanchez, who improves to 11-0, 6 knockouts.

Saavedra, who resides in San Luis Potosi, drops to 7-6, 3 KOs.

In the opening bout of the Thompson Boxing Promotions card, fringe featherweight contender Rafael Rivera knocked out Jose Ramos of Tijuana, Mexico in the opening round.

A left hook to the head dropped Ramos midway into round one. Ramos (10-15-1, 8 KOs) beat the count, but the end was near. Rivera pinned Ramos against the ropes, letting his hands go on a defenseless Ramos before referee Ray Corona stepped in and stopped the bout at 1:51.

Rivera, who lost back-to-back bouts to Joseph 'JoJo' Diaz and, most recently, Joet Gonzalez, improves to 26-2-2, 17 KOs.

In junior middleweight action, Louie Lopez (5-0, 3 KOs) of nearby Corona won a one-sided four round decision over Ray Cervera (0-2). All three judges scored the bout 40-36 for Lopez.

Junior middleweight Anthony Franco of nearby Redlands won a four round unanimous decision over Antonio Louis Hernandez (1-4). Franco dropped Hernandez in round three. Scores were 40-35, 39-36, and 38-37 for Franco.

Heavyweight Oscar Torres (3-0, 2 KOs) dropped Richard Soto, who was making his pro debut, in round four to win by unanimous decision. Scores were 39-36, 39-36, and 40-35 for Torres.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing