Terence Crawford retained his WBO world welterweight title by beating Briton Kell Brook in four rounds in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Former IBF welterweight champion Brook, 34, was caught by a right hand from the American and had to take a standing eight count in the fourth.
Crawford then landed a flurry of shots before the referee stepped in and stopped the fight.
The win means 33-year-old Crawford is unbeaten in 37 fights.
He had not fought since December 2019, while Brook, who started well, last fought in February 2020.
“I was trying to gauge the distance. He had good distance,” said Crawford, who beat Britain’s Amir Khan in April 2019.
“I was trying to find my rhythm. That is why it was so competitive at first. I couldn’t get my shots off.”
Crawford said he was “looking to secure” a fight with eight-weight world champion Manny Pacquiao from the Philippines.
“We were close to securing a Pacquiao fight prior to this fight but, being that Covid was getting out of hand and fans couldn’t attend the fight, we had to put a halt to it,” he said.
“Now, we going to go back to the drawing board and try to revisit that fight.”
In September, Pacquiao’s special assistant said the 41-year-old was in talks to fight Irish former UFC world champion Conor McGregor in 2021.
Brook, who was not working with regular trainer Dominic Ingle because of the coronavirus pandemic, instead had Carlos Formento in his corner.
“I got caught with a shot I didn’t see,” said Brook, from Sheffield, whose three losses in his 39-fight career have been against Crawford, Gennady Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr.
“I have always said that if I am in a fight, and am going to lose, I am going to go out on my shield.”
