NEWARK – Yoelvis Gomez demonstrated Saturday night exactly why he is a prospect well worth watching in 2022.

The Cuban southpaw tore through upset-minded Clay Collard on his way to a first-round technical knockout in a middleweight fight FOX aired from Prudential Center. Gomez dropped Collard once and continued to beat him up until referee Earl Brown halted the action 2:11 into the opening round, with Collard still on his feet.

The 24-year-old Gomez improved to 5-0 and recorded his fifth knockout on the Vito Mielnicki Jr.-Nicholas DeLomba undercard.

The 28-year-old Collard, of Burley, Idaho, slipped to 9-6-3 (5 KOs). Collard, who is also an MMA fighter, lost inside the distance for the second time in four years as a pro boxer.

Gomez surprisingly rocked Collard with a right hook barely a minute into the first round. At about the halfway point of that opening round, Gomez knocked Collard down in Collard’s corner with a right hook to the head, which landed several seconds after Gomez drilled him with a left to the body.

Collard got up and tried to fight out of that trouble. Gomez continued to hammer with power punches, including several straight left hands that hurt him more.

Eventually, Brown determined Collard had taken too much punishment and stepped between them to stop their fight, which was scheduled for six rounds.

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