LAS VEGAS -- The last time William Joppy fought, he lost the WBA middleweight title to Felix Trinidad, who went on to lose the undisputed title to Bernard Hopkins.

In the convoluted world of boxing, though, all is not always what it seems.

That's why Joppy ended up fighting Saturday night for his old title once again, winning a majority decision over Howard Eastman to become a middleweight champion of sorts once again.

Though the boxing world recognizes Hopkins as the undisputed champion, the WBA elevated him to something called a "super champion," allowing Joppy to regain his old belt against Eastman.

The WBA couldn't quite explain why it has two middleweight champions, but Joppy was still happy after winning on the undercard of the Hasim Rahman-Lennox Lewis heavyweight title fight.

"I'm glad I have the middleweight belt back," Joppy said. "I was a champion for six years and it's back to where it should be."

Hopkins, at ringside to help in the telecast of the fight, wasn't too impressed.

"The bottom line is today the world is seeing a title fight but the world knows who the undisputed champion is," Hopkins said. "The sanctioning body wants to rotate the belts to get sanctioning fees."

Joppy, knocked out by Trinidad in the fifth round May 12, was knocked down in the final seconds by Eastman but had piled up enough points to earn a majority decision.

One judge scored it 113-113, while a second had it 114-112 and a third 115-112, in favor of Joppy.

Joppy (33-2-1) was simply busier than Eastman, who was undefeated in 32 fights before losing. Eastman, of England, appeared to land the bigger punches but didn't throw nearly as many as Joppy.

Late in the 12th round, Eastman landed two big right hands that buckled the knees of Joppy and caused his gloves to touch the canvas, making it a knockdown.

In another undercard fight, former heavyweight champion Oliver McCall stopped Henry Akinwande with a big right hand in the 10th round to put himself back in the heavyweight picture again.

McCall trailed early but began getting inside the jab of Akinwande in the middle rounds. In the 10th round he landed a crushing right hand that put Akinwande on his back and he was counted out at 2:13 of the 10th round.

"I don't care who I fight next," said McCall (39-7), who owns a knockout win over Lewis. "I'm just glad to be back."

In a women's fight, Christy Martin improved to 44-2-2 with a unanimous 10-round decision over Lisa Holewyne in a welterweight fight.