Kelly Pavlik beat Alfonso Lopez by majority decision on Saturday night in the former middleweight champion's rusty return from nearly 13 months out of the ring.
Former three-division champion Jorge Arce also stopped Wilfredo Vazquez in the 12th round of an action-packed fight, claiming Vazquez's WBO 122-pound belt on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao's meeting with Sugar Shane Mosley at the MGM Grand Garden.
Pavlik (37-2) looked sluggish and tentative for most of a plodding bout at a 171-pound catch weight. He couldn't seriously hurt Lopez (21-1) until the final minute of the final round, but Pavlik earned a comfortable decision on two of the three judges' cards.
Arce (57-6-2, 44 KOs) and Vazquez made up for Pavlik's inaction with a tremendous bout that ended with Vazquez slumped defenseless against the ropes as Arce unloaded countless punches. Vazquez's corner threw a water bottle into the ring as referee Joe Cortez stopped it.
Pavlik hadn't fought since April 17, 2010, when Argentina's Sergio Martinez took away his two middleweight title belts in a bloody unanimous decision that ended Pavlik's 2 1/2-year reign atop the division.
Fame and fortune wore on Pavlik, who drank excessively and was suspected of poor preparation in his most recent fights. He also battled a serious staph infection in his hand before Martinez demolished him.
Pavlik checked out of the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., in January after two months of treatment for alcoholism. He returned to the ring against Lopez sporting several new large tattoos covering his entire chest, both forearms and much of his back.
Lopez, the cowboy hat-wearing Texan from a town called Cut and Shoot, showed little power in the biggest fight of his career, but he also frustrated Pavlik, who couldn't put together many strong sequences. Lopez actually landed a higher percentage of his punches, but Pavlik won on aggression and a strong 10th round in which he nearly stopped Lopez.
Although judge Adalaide Byrd ruled it a draw, Pavlik improved to 11-0 in Las Vegas — although the pride of Youngstown, Ohio, didn't make a big impression on what's likely to be the biggest audience of his career. The Showtime pay-per-view broadcast is expected to be seen in over 1 million homes.
The veteran Arce showed no nerves or rustiness, dancing in the ring to his own walk-in music before winning the early rounds against Vazquez (21-1-1). Arce even pointed at his chin in the second round, daring Vazquez to hit him - and that's exactly what Vazquez did in the final second of the fifth round, dropping Arce and bloodying his face with a left hook.
Vazquez's third super bantamweight title defense soon turned in favor of Mexico's Arce, who showed better conditioning and toughness than his younger Puerto Rican opponent. Arce thoroughly took over in the final round, battering the previously unbeaten Vazquez until his corner couldn't watch another second of it.
Earlier, Denver 140-pounder Mike Alvarado improved to 30-0 when Ray Narh quit on his stool after the third round. Narh (25-2) said he had been seriously ill in the previous 24 hours.
A fourth-round stoppage victory by super lightweight Pier Olivier Cote of Quebec was the most impressive performance in the early undercard fights.
