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 until Alexander's fourth round flash knockdown, when he walked into a left hook that briefly put him down. When the fight became difficult and Matthysse was coming on, Alexander had flashbacks of his January loss to Bradley, and it motivated him to fight Matthysse even harder.

"He was a rough and tough fighter," said Alexander, whose fight against Bradley was stopped in the 10th round when he couldn't see from a 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."