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Devon Alexander had no trouble tonight with Lee Purdy, but did hurt his left hand en route to a seventh round stoppage, when Purdy's corner stopped the one-sided bout.
Alexander (25-1, 14 KO) said he hurt the hand in the opening round, but he didn't show sure signs of the injury until the sixth, when he clearly had stopped throwing it at all. That continued on into the seventh, but after that round, Purdy's team, including middleweight contender Darren Barker, made the call to end the fight. Purdy (20-4-1, 13 KO) was showing no signs of making it competitive, and all he was doing was getting hit. The fight was never close.
For Alexander, it's as decent a win as can be scored over an opponent of this level, and it's hardly as if we can say he avoided a tougher fight (or ever has), because this was supposed to be Kell Brook, but when that fight was called off for a third time, it became simple and plain that Devon needed to get back into the ring. That's what this fight was: A stay-busy bout. The worst thing would have been a shock upset. That never threatened to happen. The second-worst thing, really, was suffering an injury. That did happen, but Alexander wasn't exactly exhibiting horrible pain or anything, so it likely won't majorly interfere with where he goes next.
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