Welterweight titlist Devon Alexander suffered a broken left hand during his seventh-round TKO of Lee Purdy on Saturday night in Atlantic City, N.J., as he had suspected.

Kevin Cunningham, Alexander's trainer and manager, told ESPN.com that Alexander had X-rays on Sunday upon returning home to St. Louis. and they showed he had a broken fifth metacarpal bone in the hand as a result of the Boardwalk Hall fight.

Devon Alexander's trainer and manager said the welterweight champion broke his hand Saturday against Lee Purdy on this first-round punch. Team Alexander

"He hit Purdy on top of the head in the first round, and that's when it happened," Cunningham said. "Purdy dipped his head down, and Devon hit him right on top of the head. He knew it was broken. We came home and went straight from the airport to the emergency room and had X-rays, and they showed the break."

Cunningham, who said his fighter had sustained a hairline fracture before but never a full break, said Alexander will be in a splint for five or six weeks and be ready to fight again before the end of the year. He said that Alexander will visit a St. Louis hand specialist this week to have the hand thoroughly checked.

"He's going to see one of the top guys who works with the Cardinals baseball players on Wednesday," Cunningham said of the St. Louis MLB team. "I think Devon will be ready to fight in late September or October, any time around that time."

Alexander is a southpaw, so his left hand is his dominant weapon. But with the injury, Alexander fought using his right hand almost exclusively and still laid a beating on England's Purdy, who took the fight on four weeks' notice in place of top contender Kell Brook, also of England, who dropped out because of a stress fracture in his right foot.