Former light-welterweight champion Devon Alexander overcame a knockdown to beat Lucas Matthysse on his comeback in Missouri.
Cloud, Bundrage retain IBF titles in Missouri
Former light-welterweight champion Devon Alexander overcame a knockdown to beat Lucas Matthysse on his comeback in Missouri.
The 24-year-old, who lost a unification fight with Timothy Bradley earlier this year, edged a split decision against the tough Argentine with two judges scoring the 10-rounder 96-93 - one for each fighter - with the third handing victory to Alexander 95-94.
It was an even contest either side of Alexander's fourth round flash knockdown, when he walked onto a left hook that briefly put him down.
"He was a rough and tough fighter," said the American, whose fight against Bradley was stopped in the 10th round when he was badly cut.
"I made a conscious decision to bring the fight out in me, because people had their doubts.
"The knockdown was a flash knockdown. After that I had to pull it out of myself to win the fight. I had flashbacks from my last fight and I wasn't going to lose two fights in a row."
On a big night of action in St Charles, Missouri, Cornelius Bundrage and Tavoris Cloud retained their IBF light-middleweight and light-heavyweight belts respectively.
Bundrage (31-4) claimed a unanimous decision over Sechew Powell while Cloud moved to 23-0 with 19 by stoppage with a TKO victory over Yasak Mack with three seconds left in the eighth round.
On the undercard their were wins for former two-weight champion Cory Spinks in his first fight since losing to Bundrage last year, and Haitian-born Canadian heavyweight Bermane Stiverne, who knocked out veteran Ray Austin to become mandatory challenger for the WBC belt currently owned by Vitali Klitschko.
