NEW YORK – Ronald Ellis ended his 2019 much better than it started.

The super middleweight bounced back from his first professional defeat by beating Immanuwel Aleem in their 10-round fight Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Judges Ron McNair (97-93) and Martha Tremblay (98-92) scored their fight for Ellis, who won a majority decision on the Jermall Charlo-Dennis Hogan undercard.

Judge John Stewart scored their 10-rounder even (95-95).

The 30-year-old Ellis (17-1-2, 11 KOs), of Lynn, Massachusetts, fought for the first time since dropping a 10-round majority decision to DeAndre Ware on February 1 in Rochester, New York.

Aleem hadn’t fought since his controversial 10-round draw with Matt Korobov on May 11 in Fairfax, Virginia. Korobov was announced as a majority-decision winner that night, but the decision was changed to majority draw due to mathematical mistake by one of the judges.

Two of the judges got it right Saturday night, when Ellis clearly was the more active, accurate fighter against Aleem (18-2-2, 11 KOs).

Aleem’s overhand right nailed Ellis on the side of his head with just under two minutes to go in the 10th round. Aleem also landed a solid left hook to Ellis’ body late in the final round, but Ellis fired back with a right hand that connected to Aleem’s head.

Ellis’s three-punch combination backed up Aleem with 25 seconds to go in the ninth round.

Ellis’ right hand drilled Aleem with just over two minutes to go in the eighth round. Aleem pressured Ellis for much of the eighth round, but Ellis blocked most of his punches and occasionally landed short shots of his own.

Ellis’s right hand landed about 40 seconds into the seventh round, which made Aleem fire back Ellis’ body. Both boxers landed hard shots during an eye-catching exchange that started at about the midway mark of the seventh round.

Ellis landed a left and a right to Aleem’s body with just under two minutes to go in the sixth round. Aleem mostly missed with his power punches in the sixth.

Aleem came out swinging to start the fifth round, but he didn’t land any consequential punches. He did drill Ellis with an overhand right with just over two minutes remaining in the fifth.

Aleem also connected with a left to the body and a right up top in the final minute of the fifth.

Ellis worked well off his jab early in the fourth round. Aleem slipped plenty of punches in that round, but he didn’t do much offensively.

Ellis landed a left and a right that backed up Aleem just before the third round ended. Ellis previously connected with a right hand just before the second round ended.

Ellis was the aggressor throughout the first round, but he had trouble catching up to Aleem. With just over a minute to go in the opening round, Aleem landed a left to Ellis’ body.

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