NEW YORK – Israil Madrimov hammered Alejandro Barrera to the body and head throughout their brutally one-sided super welterweight fight Saturday night.

The unbeaten southpaw from Uzbekistan battered Barrera with an array of lefts and rights downstairs and upstairs until referee Benjy Esteves mercifully called a halt to the action in the fifth round on the Gennadiy Golovkin-Sergiy Derevyanchenko undercard at Madison Square Garden. Madrimov dominated him for almost the entire fight, until Esteves stepped in while a backtracking Barrera was still on his feet.

Esteves stopped their scheduled 10-rounder at 2:36 of the fifth round.

Madrimov viciously connected with a left hand that snapped back Barrera’s head several seconds before Esteves stepped between them to spare Barrera from absorbing more punishment.

The 24-year-old Madrimov has won each of his four professional fights by knockout. Mexico’s Barrera (29-6, 18 KOs) has lost four of his past five fights, but he hadn’t been knocked out in 34 professional bouts before Madrimov stopped him.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.