Khalil Coe redeemed himself Friday night.

The American light heavyweight convincingly avenged his ninth-round TKO loss to Manuel Gallegos by battering him until the his handlers stopped their immediate rematch after the fifth round at Domo Alcalde in Guadalajara, Mexico.

A sharp, strong Coe consistently connected with his jarring jab and hard right hands and defended himself effectively versus a hard-hitting Mexican veteran who dealt him his lone professional loss 6½ months earlier.

Coe, of Jersey City, New Jersey, improved to 10-1-1 and produced his eighth knockout. Gallegos (21-3-1, 18 KOs) lost by knockout for the second time in his past three appearances.

The 28-year-old Coe's redemptive performance was the complete opposite of how he fought in their first fan-friendly fight.

"The last fight I was dealing with a lotta body, internal problems," Coe said in the ring. "I was hospitalized twice before my last fight. And that pretty much was what made the difference. This camp, no problems all the way through, a hundred percent Coe, and y'all see what happened."

Gallegos knocked Coe to the canvas four times in their first fight – in the fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth rounds. Coe continually tried to fight out of trouble in the last five rounds of that bout on the Jaron Ennis-Karen Chukhadzhian undercard Nov. 9 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Referee Eric Dali determined Coe had taken too much punishment once he went down for the fourth time only seven seconds into the ninth.

Coe told The Ring this week that he was hospitalized twice within three weeks of his initial fight against Gallegos. The accomplished amateur didn't tell his manager, Keith Connolly, or his promoter, Eddie Hearn, about his hospitalizations and admitted he should've withdrawn.

A reflective Coe changed how he trains, primarily by taking more time to recover between sessions and coming into camp for this rematch at a lower weight than he had previously done.

The proper preparation enabled Coe to fight to his potential Friday night.

He picked apart Gallegos during a one-sided fifth round that encouraged his handlers to stop their scheduled 10-rounder.

Coe connected with a right hand a little less than 40 seconds into the fourth round. Mindful of not taking unnecessary shots, Coe also slipped Gallegos' punches.

Coe kept Gallegos on his back foot during the third. Gallegos was taking a beating by that point and couldn't mount much offense against an active, aggressive Coe.

Another stiff jab by Coe made Gallegos move away from him just after the midway mark of the second round.

Coe caught Gallegos with a power jab that snapped his head back late in the opening round, causing a cut on the bridge of his nose. A short left on the inside by Gallegos got Coe's attention with less than a minute to go, yet he came back to have success later in the round.