By Keith Idec

When Vaughn Alexander was released from a Missouri maximum-security prison on March 7, he expected promoters to line up in an attempt to work with him.

That didn’t happen, despite the potential he flashed as a talented teenager 12 years ago.

Devon Alexander’s older brother was a promising prospect promoted by Don King in December 2004, when he committed an armed robbery. The welterweight/junior middleweight from St. Louis had more than 300 amateur fights and plans back then to become the first world champion from the Alexander family.

BoxingScene.com has learned promoter Kathy Duva and her fellow Main Events employees have taken a chance on Alexander instead becoming the second fighter from his family to win a world title. The Totowa, New Jersey-based promotional company, which represents undefeated light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev, has signed Alexander to a multi-year contract.

The 30-year-old middleweight will make his Main Events debut on November 26 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. His non-televised six-rounder against Antonio Chaves Fernandez (7-28-4, 2 KOs, 1 NC), of Brockton, Massachusetts, will be Alexander’s second fight this fall.

“We are very excited to be part of the next chapter in Vaughn Alexander’s life,” said Jolene Mizzone, Main Events’ vice president of operations and matchmaker. “He has all the tools and the mindset to be the next middleweight champion of the world.”

Alexander’s ambition aside, if Main Events’ plan unfolds according to its design it’ll take at least a couple years for him to even earn a top-15 middleweight ranking.

He officially ended a 12-year layoff on October 22, when Alexander (6-0, 5 KOs) knocked out Kevin Brown (0-4), of Florissant, Missouri, in the second round of a scheduled four-rounder in St. Louis. After wasting 10 years and four months of his life incarcerated, he wants to fight as much as possible and not for long against opponents like Brown and Fernandez.

“I welcome this,” said Alexander, who’ll turn 31 on December 10. “I want to fight as much as I possibly can. I’m in shape. I’ll always be in shape. I don’t wanna put myself beyond November 26th. But after that November 26th fight, I’m back in the gym.

“I don’t got no time to waste. I’m trying to fight as much as I can. I’m trying to smash as many people as I possibly can. And that’s where my mind is at. I don’t want no long breaks. I wanna be in this ring, to be able to get these wins, impressive wins. I don’t feel no pressure about anything. If anything, I just feel honored to be in the ring. I’m ready to get in as much as I can.”

Alexander has been thinking about these moments for far too many years.

He received a six-year sentence in June 2005 for the aforementioned armed robbery. Twelve years were added to that sentence after Alexander inexplicably attacked a sheriff’s officer he had asked to take him to a restroom following his sentencing in downtown St. Louis.

These days, Alexander’s older brother, Lamar, trains him at Sweat, a gym in Clayton, Missouri. Devon Alexander, a two-division world champion who’s 14 months younger than Vaughn, trains in nearby St. Charles, Missouri.

Vaughn and Devon Alexander remain close, though, and are motivating one another for their respective returns to the ring. Devon Alexander (26-4, 14 KOs) hasn’t fought in nearly 13 months and doesn’t have a fight scheduled.

“On November the 26th, I’m gonna put a show on,” Vaughn Alexander said. “I’m gonna handle business.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.