Andre Berto regained a portion of the welterweight title when he dethroned IBF champion Jan Zaveck with a fifth round stoppage.
Former WBC champion returns with victory over Zaveck
Andre Berto regained a portion of the welterweight title when he dethroned IBF champion Jan Zaveck with a fifth round stoppage.
Berto suffered the first defeat of his career in April when he lost his WBC belt to future Floyd Mayweather foe Victor Ortiz in a barnstorming match-up.
And he found the German-based Slovenian more to his liking on the European's first trip to the United States, although Zaveck could consider himself unfortunate to be stopped on a cut.
Berto was in charge of the contest and caught Zaveck with a left hook in the fifth that opened up a nasty gash on the champion's eyelid.
Expectations
The cornermen did their best to stem the flow before the sixth round but the ringside doctor waved the fight off.
"It was so-so," admitted Berto. "It was my first comeback fight, I was nervous. I had some big expectations coming back.
"I wanted to make a statement - I wanted to come out and say I didn't go nowhere. I was stuck in a cage the last few months. I'm hungry. Victor Ortiz, we definitely want to do it again."
Zaveck was making the fourth defence of the strap he won in December 2009 and was furious the fight was stopped when it was.
"I was saving energy for the second half of the fight," said the 25-year-old. "If this injury hadn't happened it would have been a very good match."
