Paul Spadafora's latest attempt to return to the top of junior welterweight division got off to a good start last night as he earned a technical knockout against Argentina's Ivan Bustos in the sixth round before a capacity crowd of 2,500 at the I.C. Light Amphitheatre in Station Square.

The fight went so well, it earned a rating of "perfect" from a guy who knows a thing or two about perfection in the ring.

"He did everything we asked him to do, that's a wonderful feeling when you keep hitting a man and he can't hit you back," said Spadafora's trainer, boxing Hall of Famer Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker. "That was boxing at his best, I mean, what can I say -- that was [six] beautiful rounds of boxing. He was in control, focused, patient -- I can't make it up.

"The name of the game is boxing and defense and he did it all; he looked like me."

Spadafora (42-0-1) was a little more critical, rating his performance a six on a scale of 1 to 10. But he said it was exactly the kind of start he was looking for as he tries to make another run at a championship belt.

The former champion, who was fighting for the first time in 14 months -- and for the first time in Pittsburgh in five years -- was never in trouble, taking the fight to Bustos (27-13-3), whose main goal seemed to be to survive for all eight rounds, from the opening bell.

Spadafora used a combination of jabs and punches to pummel Bustos for five rounds before Bustos' trainer threw in the towel at the 2:26 mark of the sixth.

"I don't think I have ever had a fight like this, where I didn't get hit," Spadafora said. "I think he may have gotten me once with a jab, but other than that, I don't think he got me once. I felt great out there, I had a good plan and executed it and I think some of the things [Whitaker] taught me about being a boxer really came into play here.

"I was pleased because I was following instructions but I wanted to throw a little more punches. But like I said, I wasn't getting hit at all. I didn't feel like there was too much rust."

The question now is, when will Spadafora fight again, and more important, when will he seek bigger fights against top-ranked contenders? Again, fighter and trainer had a little different idea.

"I could go 10 rounds today, I feel that good," Spadafora said. "I think I have another fight coming in August but I don't think it will be long before I will be back challenging for titles against the top guys again."

Whitaker, though, said "there is no hurry, let's let him take one fight at a time and see what happens. That's the approach we are going to take."

The undercard was four fights featuring a number of mostly unheralded fighters but it did produce several competitive matches.

The most exciting was a junior welterweight bout between up-and-comer Rod Salka and James Ventry. Salka, who is from Elizabeth, was clearly the crowd favorite and didn't disappoint as he won a unanimous decision to improve to 8-0.

The first fight on the card provided a divided crowd, as Chris Archer and Jason Carter are from Pittsburgh. The two light heavyweights battled into the third round before Archer (11-7) prevailed with a TKO at the 1:51 mark.

One other fight involving a local fighter, welterweight Jose Caraballo, was the third fight of the night, but the home ring advantage didn't seem to help him as he was knocked out at the 2:02 mark of the second round by Sam "Black Ice" Gipson of Elkhart, Ind.

Also, Wheeling native Tommy Poe had a successful professional debut as he beat Elkhart's Ryan St. Germain in a unanimous decision.