By Keith Idec

Alex Saucedo wouldn’t allow Lenny Zappavigna to ruin his homecoming Saturday night.

The courageous Oklahoma City native survived severe trouble during the fourth round to beat Zappavigna by seventh-round technical knockout in a bloody, brutal battle at Chesapeake Energy Arena. A bruised, cut Saucedo produced an Arturo Gatti-like performance in coming back to stop Australia’s Zappavigna in an action-packed slugfest that warrants “Fight of the Year” consideration.

Referee Gerald Ritter stopped their scheduled 12-round fight at 2:31 of the seventh round because Zappavigna’s trainer stepped up on the ring apron to save his fighter from suffering more damage. Zappavigna’s left eye was swollen shut and had cuts over and under it by the time the bout ended on the undercard of the Gilberto Ramirez-Alexis Angulo super middleweight title fight.

His victory moved the 24-year-old Saucedo (28-0, 18 KOs) toward a world title shot. Bob Arum, Saucedo’s promoter, said that the WBO will make Saucedo the mandatory challenger for newly crowed WBO 140-pound champion Maurice Hooker (24-0-3, 16 KOs).

Saucedo already is ranked No. 1 by the WBO at 140 pounds. The 30-year-old Zappavigna (37-4, 27 KOs) is ranked No. 7 by the WBO.

Saucedo, sensing Zappavigna couldn’t see out of his left eye, attacked him throughout the seventh round. He continually landed hard right hands as Zappavigna tried to retreat.

Zappavigna bled badly from cuts around both eyes throughout the sixth round. He tried to wipe away blood with his gloves several times, but the gutsy contender couldn’t keep a relentless Saucedo off of him.

Zappavigna had difficulty seeing out of his swollen, bloodied left eye, which enabled Saucedo to land multiple right hands and back Zappavigna into a corner late in the sixth round.

Saucedo almost got knocked out in the fourth round, but seemed to regain his legs by the time the fifth round started. He landed several right hands that backed up Zappavigna in the fifth round, but Zappavigna cracked Saucedo with a right hand that seemed to stun him late in the fifth.

Zappavigna nearly knocked out Saucedo in the fourth round, when he hurt Saucedo early in it with an overhand right/left hook combination. A courageous Saucedo somehow withstood Zappavigna’s onslaught, which lasted throughout the fourth round.

Saucedo sustained a cut over his right eye and absorbed numerous power punches from Zappavigna during those three minutes.

Zappavigna traded with Saucedo early in the third round, yet paid for it when Saucedo’s right hand knocked him down. Zappavigna got up and toward the end of the third round repeatedly landed overhand rights that Saucedo took well.

Following a first round in which neither fighter landed many flush punches, Saucedo backed Zappavigna into ropes by landing a right hand about 30 seconds into the second round. Saucedo drilled Zappavigna with a right uppercut just before the halfway point of the second round, but Zappavigna fired back with a straight right hand that landed flush with around 1:10 to go in the second round.

Zappavigna also clipped Saucedo with a left hook that knocked him off balance when there were about 40 seconds remaining in the second round. A cut also opened around Zappavigna’s right eye during the second round.

Following Saucedo’s sensational comeback win, Brazil’s Robson Conceicao knocked out Gavino Guaman in the third round of a scheduled six-round, 130-pound bout.

Conceicao (8-0, 5 KOs), a 2016 Olympic gold medalist, dropped Ecuador’s Guaman once in the first round, twice in the second round and once in the third round on his way to the stoppage. Referee Mike England halted the action 52 seconds into the third round because Guaman (5-3, 1 KO) couldn’t stand up straight once he reached his feet following a fourth knockdown.

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