HBO’s Boxing After Dark series returns this Saturday night with what is expected to be a thrilling main event in the welterweight division between Marcos Maidana (31-2-0, 28 KO’s) and Devon Alexander (21-1-0, 13 KO’s).

The fight takes place in Alexander’s home town of St. Louis and marks the debut for both men at welterweight. Both have held world titles in the 140 lb. junior welterweight division and it will be compelling to see who benefits most from being permitted to carry the extra seven pounds.

Prior to the featured bout fans will be treated to a title fight in the super featherweight division as Adrien Broner (22-0-0, 18 KO’s) makes the first defense of his WBO strap against the currently undefeated Eloy Perez (23-0-0, 7 KO’s). The betting odds suggest Broner will put the first blemish on that ledger with bookmakers listing the champ as a -500 favorite.

The KO ratio of Perez does not indicate much of a threat in the power department and coupled with Broner’s superior boxing skills, the price on Golden Boy’s prized 130 lb. titlist should be even higher. Broner proved he can go the distance to win by decision against Daniel Ponce De Leon. He then showcased his power by finishing Jason Litzau who previous beat Rocky Juarez and lasted eight against Robert Guerrero, with a first round KO.

Look for Broner to successfully defend his title this weekend and continue building his resume, as Golden Boy carefully hand picks opponents to keep him out of harms way for now. He fought four times in 2011 and should eventually be asked to face much stiffer competition than he will Saturday.

In the main event, the odds makers currently have the home team listed as the -170 betting favorite. The last two times Alexander fought in St. Louis, the judges decisions were hotly debated. Many observers, myself included, believe that Alexander’s wins against both Andreas Kotelnik and Lucan Matthysse were questionable.

It’s also no secret Timothy Bradley refused Alexander’s attempts to allow the city of St. Louis to play host for their fight last year. Bradley emerged victorious after an unintentional head butt halted the bout in Round 10 and he was awarded a technical decision.

For those fights, Alexander was fighting under the "protection" of Don King who undoubtedly has a vast influence in the Midwest. This time around, Alexander retains the services of Golden Boy, who may not possess the same type of clout if the fight goes to the scorecards.

Sadly, I would be doing a huge disservice if I didn’t shine light on the elephant in the room because boxing fans have fallen victims to controversial decisions far too long. Besides the lack of promoters willing to put their differences aside for the opportunity to give fans the fights they want to see most, the biggest knock on the sport is without question its inability to provide fair results when bouts go the distance.

Granted, the act of scoring a fight is subjective and will always be open to dissenting judging. Having sat ringside for countless fights I can say that many times my opinion has changed after watching the replay of a close bout on television.

Judges must render a decision on who won each round right there on the spot, so I can understand there will be times when we all see things somewhat differently. But there have been some decisions over the years that leave us all bewildered. Someone needs to step in and protect the integrity of our sport. Otherwise, more and more fight fans will continue to make their way to MMA where there seems to be much less of that taking place on results that are seemingly obvious.

The simple reason why this discussion is so critical is because for betting purposes, we must be well aware of the politics that surround a fight. In the case of Saturday’s main event between Maidana and Alexander, I believe for Maidana to walk away the victor, he’ll need to secure a KO.

A quick glance at Alexander’s past history in St. Louis supports that there is almost no chance of him losing via decision if this fight reaches the final bell.

This will be the prototypical "Boxer vs. Puncher" with Maidana considered by many to be one of the hardest hitters at 140 lbs. and he should be even stronger with the extra weight. Alexander will have a huge speed advantage and should benefit greatly by not having to cut so much weight.

In his last few fights he looked exhausted barely half way through and had very little left in the tank late. Against a pressure fighter like Maidana who likes to cut off the ring and continue moving forward, cardio had better not be an issue.

Looking at the skill-sets they both bring to the table, Alexander is a southpaw with excellent movement and speed. His goal will be to keep Maidana at a distance by pumping his jab and trying to time him as he comes in. Some believe Alexander has a suspect chin after being dropped by Matthysse but I feel it’s more a lack of complete focus than anything else.

His chin should get tested here as Maidana was the first to drop Victor Ortiz amongst others who hadn’t hit the canvas prior to facing the Argentinean. For Maidana, he’ll look to avoid keeping the fight at a distance and will instead try to make it resemble a fight inside of a phone booth.

Maidana packs a lot of power and throws almost every punch with bad intentions in search of a knockout. Both Erik Morales and Kotelnik, known as boxers, had trouble keeping him at bay even though they outclassed him in the technique department.

On the surface this may not appear to be a fight that Alexander will have a huge style advantage but that’s exactly what he’ll have over Maidana. Alexander has not looked his best against pressure fighters and needs to improve his defense and get hit less.

I believe he’ll be able to dictate the tempo. To do so, he’ll need to get Maidana’s respect early on and that’s something he should be able to do at this weight. Alexander’s power is vastly underrated and his knockout wins against the always tough Juan Urango and Junior Witter support my claim.

Even though Maidana may be the best finisher at jr, welterweight, his lack of hand speed will be his undoing as the much elder Morales showed by losing a majority decision. Alexander will have very little problem landing straight down the pike all night long. When Maidana winds up to land his coveted hooks, he’ll end up taking the worst of it.

Bottom line: It’s Maidana’s chin that will ultimately be tested throughout the fight. I believe it’s less sturdy than Alexander’s and much easier to hit. If Alexander doesn’t have a lapse of focus and simply uses his superior boxing skills, though he may take some big shots at times, he will come out on the winning end.

　Finally, the ace up Alexander’s sleeve will be the judges. As long as he’s able to finish the fight upright, he’ll get his first win at welterweight and find himself back in the mix for major bouts in the very near future.

BOXING GOSSIP

Amir Khan has secured a rematch with Lamont Peterson. Odds makers have him listed as a heavy -500 favorite to get revenge. Be very careful in thinking it will be much easier now that they won’t be fighting in Peterson’s back yard.

I had thought Khan would be too difficult of a puzzle for Peterson to figure out but after watching that bout a couple of times, it’s obvious Peterson was able to put the pieces together rather easily once he got comfortable. Over the years we’ve seen some of the most talented boxers find themselves trying to erase a loss against an opponent that simply has their number and that may very well be the case here.

The highly anticipated rematch between Andre Berto and Victor Ortiz that was postponed due to an injury suffered by Berto has been rescheduled for June 30 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

It looks like we are in for a lot of exciting fights over these next couple of months including the return of both Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, who to the surprise of few, won’t be facing each other.

(Vegas-Runner is a pro sports bettor in Las Vegas featured on CNBC/ESPN and currently holds the record for "Most Units Won" in a single year at the Sports Monitor. Follow VR on Twitter @vegasrunner and at Pregame.com.)