Miguel Cotto dominated from the opening bell to retain his WBC middleweight title with a crushing victory over Australia's Daniel Geale in Brooklyn.
Cotto knocked down Geale twice in the fourth round before referee Harvey Dock stopped the bout midway through the round in front of a frenzied crowd of 12,100 at the Barclays Center.
He landed a devastating left hook early in the fourth and then finished off the challenger soon after with a series of body shots and a right to the head that sent the Aussie to the canvas for a second time.
Geale got up but was obviously unable to continue and Dock saved him from further punishment.
The 34-year-old Cotto improved to 40-4 with 33 knockouts and the win now sets up a likely showdown with Mexico's Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, possibly later this year.
"Let's do it," Cotto said. "Before that, I want to spend some time with my family and enjoy them again, but then it is back to LA and training for Canelo."
Cotto, who was fighting for the first time since almost a year ago when he beat Sergio Martinez, wore down Geale with body shots through the first three rounds.
Geale, 34, fell to 31-4 with 16 knockouts. The former world champion suffered his third defeat in his last five fights.
His last foray to New York ended with a third-round knockout loss to hard-hitting Gennady Golovkin at Madison Square Garden in July of last year.