NEW YORK – Abdullah Mason made it clear throughout the first round of his fight Friday night that he learned invaluable lessons from his last eyebrow-raising outing.

The prodigious prospect remained poised and picked apart Manuel Jaimes during the opening three minutes of their lightweight fight on the Denys Berinchyk-Keyshawn Davis undercard in The Theater at Madison Square Garden. Then the 20-year-old Cleveland native demonstrated why many within the boxing industry still consider Mason a future star three months after he suffered two first-round knockdowns during a second-round knockout of Dominican veteran Johan Vasquez on November 8 in Norfolk, Virginia.

The fast-handed, intelligent, skillful, strong southpaw dropped Jaimes once apiece in the second and third rounds and twice in the fourth round on his way to a fourth-round knockout. Referee David Fields declared Mason the winner at 1:55 of the fourth round of a scheduled 10-rounder.

Fields immediately waved an end to their thoroughly one-sided bout after Mason’s short, right uppercut knocked Jaimes flat on his back.

Mason (17-0, 15 KOs) told ESPN’s Mark Kriegel after his dominant performance that he wants a world title fight.

Mason became the first opponent to knock out Jaimes (16-3-1, 11 KOs). Before Friday night, James, of Stockton, California, had only been beaten on points by former WBA super lightweight champ Rolando “Rolly” Romero (16-2, 13 KOs) and Pedro Bernal Rodriguez (then 8-1-2).