Shakur Stevenson took a clear unanimous decision victory at the Prudential Center as he defended his WBC lightweight world title from Artem Harutyunyan.
Fighting in his Newark hometown, the American outboxed his challenger to win by scores of 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112 after 12 rounds.
The Armenian-born Germany-based Harutyunyan is a 2016 Olympic medallist but was entering this fight after a near year-long lay-off. Ultimately he could not threaten Stevenson and was hurt multiple times by body shots.
"He's just trying to make sure he survives," Stevenson said afterwards. "He's a good fighter. He's tough. He's strong. I would've wanted him to try a little harder, so that way it could be a more fun fight.
"I have to cut off the ring a bit more. He'd go one way and then go the other way, so I got to go back in the gym and work on cutting off the ring.
Harutyunyan said: "Of course it was fun. Boxing is not a game. You have to fight. You get hit and have to hit back. It's normal."
