Yuri Foreman ended his near two-year absence from the ring by winning all six rounds as he outpointed Brandon Baue in New York.
Former WBA light-middleweight champion Foreman, 30, proved his fitness following a lengthy spell recuperating from knee surgery.
The Brooklyn-based fighter took the shut-out decision 60-54 on the cards of all three judges as he dominated Baue, from Missouri.
The trainee rabbi, whose boxing career would have been effectively ended if he had lost, said: “Thank God I won."