Dmitriy Salita overcame third-choice opponent Brandon Hoskins at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn on Saturday to take another step towards a second world-title challenge.
Hoskins, from Missouri, gave Salita a useful test over six rounds before the Jewish welterweight prevailed by scores of 60-54 and 59-55 twice.
The victory took Salita's record to 35 wins and one draw from 37 fights, with his only loss coming in a WBA world light-welterweight title fight against then champion Amir Khan in Newcastle four years ago