NEW YORK – Luis Arias bounced back Saturday night from an upset loss to Vaughn Alexander 5½ months earlier.

An assertive Arias went for the knockout of Jimmy Williams throughout their 10-round junior middleweight match. Arias never got that knockout and grew tired in the later rounds, but the Milwaukee native still won a wide unanimous decision on the Gervonta Davis-Rolando Romero undercard at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

All three judges scored Arias a 99-91 winner.

Arias improved to 20-3-1. Williams, of New Haven, Connecticut, slipped to 18-8-2.

Arias essentially was trying to remain busy when he squared off against Alexander on the Davis-Isaac Cruz undercard December 5 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The Boca Raton, Florida resident upset former IBF/IBO/WBA champ Jarrett Hurd by split decision in his previous fight, a 10-round middleweight match on the Floyd Mayweather-Logan Paul undercard last June 6 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. St. Louis’ Alexander (16-6-1, 9 KOs) also defeated Arias by split decision in their 10-rounder.

On Saturday night, Williams went to the canvas several seconds before their fight ended. Referee Eric Dali rightfully ruled that he slipped to the canvas, though.

Arias wobbled Williams with a right hand to the side of his head that knocked Williams into the ropes during the ninth round. It was as close as he would come to scoring a knockdown in a fight that went the distance.

Williams hit a fatigued Arias with a right-left combination that backed him into the ropes just after the halfway point of the eighth round.

Williams’ right hand backed Arias into the ropes and made him hold with just over a minute on the clock in the seventh round.

Arias remained in control throughout the one-sided fifth and sixth rounds, but he couldn’t hurt Williams enough to put him down.

A left hook by Arias backed Williams into his corner barely a minute into the fourth round. A four-punch combination by Arias made Williams hold him with just over a minute to go in the fourth round.

Arias’ left hook wobbled Williams with about 30 seconds to go in the third round. Arias again landed an array of power punches on Williams during that third round.

Arias spent most of the second round hitting Williams with power punches. Dali warned Arias and Williams toward the end of the second round for rule-bending tactics.

An aggressive Arias backed Williams into the ropes and nailed him with a left hook less than 10 seconds before the first round ended. Arias connected with a right hand to Williams’ head about 35 seconds earlier, after backing Williams into the ropes.

Arias landed a hard right hand just before the midway mark of the opening round, but Williams took it well.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.