Julio Cesar Chavez Jr was stopped after nine rounds by Andrzej Fonfara on his return to the ring after more than two years two years away.

Chavez Jr had been out of action since March 2013 and looked out of sorts for long spells in his catchweight 172lb clash with the Pole, who ran out a convincing winner in Carson, California.

Fonfara, who fights out of Chicago, landed big shots all night in the outdoor StubHub Center ring, and his left hand in the ninth knocked down Chavez (48-2) for the first time in his professional career.

Chavez made it back to his corner, but was seen to say "I'm done" to his trainer Joe Goosen and failed to come out for the start of the 10th round.

Fonfara had been on top almost from the opening bell, throwing more than double the shots Chavez managed, while also landing far more power punches.

Chavez Jr landed one or two decent body shots but rarely had Fonfara in any trouble, and the Pole revealed he was confident of victory from an early stage.

“When he hit me for the first time in the first round, I knew I was going to win this fight,” said Fonfara.

"I saw his punches easily coming in. I know I threw more punches. Chavez said before the fight that he didn't think I could take his body punches. I think I took them pretty good and passed that test.

“He didn’t punch as hard as everybody said he did. … I was a little surprised that he did not come out for the (10th round), but he was cut, been getting beat up and just got knocked down, so he knew what would happen if he came out.”