NEW YORK – Jermall Charlo assured Dennis Hogan that he isn’t anything resembling Jaime Munguia.

The unbeaten WBC world middleweight champion showed the Irish contender exactly what he meant Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The bigger, stronger Charlo dropped Hogan twice, once apiece in the fourth and seventh rounds, and stopped the game challenger in the seventh round of their scheduled 12-round, 160-pound title fight.

Charlo’s left hook knocked Hogan into the ropes and then to the canvas very early in the seventh round. A staggered Hogan got up, but referee Charlie Fitch stopped their fight 28 seconds into the seventh round.

The heavily favored Charlo (30-0, 22 KOs) retained his WBC world 160-pound crown in the main event of a 12-bout card.

“[Trainer] Ronnie [Shields] told me to cut him off,” Charlo told Showtime’s Jim Gray regarding the punch that ended the fight. “I just threw the shot and I made sure I threw it right on the money.”

Prior to Saturday night, Hogan hadn’t been stopped inside the distance during an eight-year, 31-fight career. His first two losses were decision defeats to Jack Culcay and Munguia.

“I wanted to keep going, but the decision was fair enough by the referee,” said Hogan, who moved up from 154 pounds to 160 to challenge Charlo. “I didn’t see the punch coming on the second knockdown. I was trying to keep boxing him, but then, all of a sudden, I was on the ground and the fight was over.”

The 34-year-old Hogan (28-3-1, 7 KOs) landed a shot at Charlo’s championship due to his strong showing against Mexico’s Munguia in their 154-pound championship match April 13 in Monterrey, Mexico. Munguia (34-0, 27 KOs) won a majority decision in their 12-rounder and retained the WBO junior middleweight title he since has vacated, but the outcome was widely considered controversial.

Houston’s Charlo was in complete control through six rounds Saturday night.

He wasted no time hurting Hogan in the seventh round. Charlo’s left hook knocked Hogan to the seat of his trunks just 14 seconds into that three-minute period.

Hogan got up again, but Fitch determined he shouldn’t continue.

Hogan and Charlo wrestled and hit each other on the back of the head early in the sixth round. A right hand by Charlo snapped back Hogan’s head and made him retreat just after the halfway point of the sixth.

Charlo caught Hogan with several flush punches in the fifth round, but nothing that hurt the challenger as badly as the left hook that sent Hogan to the canvas in the previous round.

Charlo dropped Hogan with a short, left hook less than 30 seconds into the fourth round. Hogan rolled over after landing on his back and quickly got to his feet.

The crafty veteran moved and held his way to surviving the final two-plus minutes of that round. A jarring jab by Charlo made Hogan stumble with just under a minute to go in the third round.

Charlo clipped Hogan with a short right hand just after the midway mark of the second round. A straight right hand by Hogan landed in the final minute of the second round.

Hogan caught Charlo with a counter left hook when there was just under a minute to go in the first round. Hogan landed another left hand that backed up Charlo with about 15 seconds left in the opening round.

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