UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Jermain Taylor wanted a tuneup fight, and he wanted to make a statement. But there wasn't time.

The 19-0 middleweight prospect knocked Alex Rios unconscious 54 seconds into the opening round.

After a quick body shot with his left, Taylor landed an overhand right to the top of Rios' head, sending him to the corner of the mat.

Rios lost consciousness for several seconds, the fight doctor said, and Taylor didn't even break a sweat.

Taylor, the WBC Continental Americas champion, was glad to have the win, but seemed disappointed with the fight. He wanted more work, he said.

He wanted experience against a lefty, but Rios connected on just two punches.

He wanted to show off a few new combinations, but it only took one.

"I feel like it was a little too quick to even make a statement," Taylor said after Friday's knockout.

A bronze medalist at the Sydney Olympics, the 24-year-old Taylor is planning several fights this year in a bid to draw middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins into the ring.

Taylor said that Friday's fight, while swift and decisive, was not what he wanted out of the match.

"Sometimes it happens like that," Taylor said with a half smile and a shrug.

His promoter, Lou DiBella, said Taylor was itching for a workout after training through the holidays.

"He didn't want to knock the kid out in 54 seconds," DiBella said.

Rios, a 34-year-old construction worker from San Antonio, Tex., was weak on his feet in the locker room and was hospitalized for observation, fight officials said.

A married father of three, the one-time prospect had hoped to catch Taylor unprepared. He said he would retire if he lost Friday.

Taylor is scheduled to fight Derrell Coley on March 27 in Little Rock, Ark. HBO has said it plans to televise that fight. Friday was his last fight on ESPN, Taylor said.

"I don't think you can go out any better than that," he said. Hopkins' promoters have not ruled out a fight with Taylor, but said the champion only plans to fight two or three more times before he retires.

Taylor, the No. 3 WBC middleweight, would need to climb in the ratings and win a few more fights decisively to become the kind of money draw Hopkins wants, Bob Goodman, a spokesman for promoter Don King said.

In undercard fights, John Duddy (4-0) won a four-round TKO over Ken Hock (10-5-1). Duddy, a junior middleweight who came to New York from Ireland nine months ago, dominated the match before referee Richard Flaherty stopped the fight.

Junior lightweight Nate Campbell (24-1-1) won a 12-round unanimous decision over Daniel Attah (21-3-1).