NEWARK, N.J. — Tomasz Adamek successfully defended his International Boxing Federation cruiserweight world championship Saturday night with a fourth-round technical knockout of Bobby Gunn.

Adamek, a Polish native who now lives in Jersey City, N.J., dominated the fight from the outset and improved his career record to 38-1 with 26 knockouts. Gunn, who hails from Hackensack, N.J., fell to 18-4-1.

Adamek stunned Gunn with a powerful overhand right in the fourth round, buckling the challenger's knees, but he signaled to Adamek that he was not seriously hurt by shaking his head. Adamek appeared shocked that Gunn didn't go down, especially after ending the round with a flurry of 17 unanswered punches. After the bell, referee Earl Brown went to Gunn's corner and stopped the fight, giving Adamek the victory.

Although Gunn was the New Jersey native, it was clearly a pro-Adamek crowd, with several of the 7,000 or so fans waving the Polish national flag and chanting "Polska, Polska," with every Adamek punch. Adamek fought for the third straight time at the Prudential Center and has become a crowd favorite in each of those bouts, all three victories.

Adamek used his left jab with ease in the first round, then scored at will in a clearly one-sided second round, hurting the challenger several times with an assortment of powerful right hands.

The shorter Gunn tried to counter with a left hook that scored a few times, but never really hurt the champion. Adamek displayed a host of combinations in the third round to take firm control of the bout.