Carlos Caraballo entered the night with questions regarding his career potential and made a major statement when all was said and done.

An intended step up in class turned out to be a showcase performance for the unbeaten Boricua, who demolished Mexicali’s Leonardo Baez inside of four rounds. Ponce’s Caraballo floored Baez in round two before pouring on the attack in forcing the stoppage at 2:36 of round four in their NBC Sports Network-televised bout Thursday evening in at Plaza del Quinto Centenario in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Less than an hour after watching his twin brother Eduardo Baez conquer an unbeaten Puerto Rican prospect, Leonard Baez sought to create the same magic. Caraballo wasn’t having any of it, showing the disparity in skill and power from the opening bell. The undefeated southpaw offered plenty of angles, disrupting the rhythm of the taller Baez while continuing to catch him clean with left hands.

Caraballo floored Baez hard in round two. A pair of uppercuts had the lanky Mexican boxer out on his feet, with a cleanup left hand sending him to the canvas. Baez beat the count but was never able to turn the tide.

Action remained dominantly one-way in round three before Caraballo emphatically closed the show one round later. The 25-year old prospect pummeled Baez in the final minute of the round until head trainer Marcos Caballero literally threw in the towel, forcing referee Roberto Ramirez to step in and stop the contest.

Baez suffers his second straight defeat in falling to 18-4 (9KOs). The bout came nine months after suffering a 7th round stoppage at the hands of bantamweight contender Jason Moloney last June in Las Vegas.

Caraballo storms to 14-0 (14KOs). The Miguel Cotto-promoted prospect has yet to be extended beyond round five as a pro.

Caraballo-Baez served as the chief support of a televised tripleheader topped by a featherweight title fight between defending WBC/WBO champ Amanda Serrano (39-1-1, 29KOs) and Daniela Bermudez (29-3-3, 10KOs). Eduardo Baez is now 10-0 (2KOs) when appearing on the same show as his twin.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox