ATLANTA – Malik Hawkins took a significant step Saturday night toward becoming a junior welterweight contender.

The unbeaten prospect from Baltimore just didn’t defeat Darwin Price the way he had hoped. Hawkins beat Price by fifth-round technical knockout once Price suffered a leg injury and couldn’t continue.

Referee Brian Stutts stopped their scheduled 10-rounder 1:18 into the fifth round on the Gervonta Davis-Yuriorkis Gamboa undercard at State Farm Arena. Baltimore’s Hawkins, 23, is one of Davis’ stablemates.

Hawkins (18-0, 11 KOs) rocked Price with a right hand in the fourth round and was building momentum before Price got hurt. Their fight was competitive, though, and the ending was inconclusive.

Houston’s Price, 30, lost for the first time as a pro (16-1, 9 KOs).

While moving backward in the fifth round, Price slipped and hurt his right leg. Stutts didn’t notice Price was grabbing at his leg while Hawkins hammered away at him in a neutral corner.

Once Stutts realized Price was hurt, he separated the fighters. Price indicated he couldn’t continue and Stutts stopped the fight.

Hawkins connected with a short, chopping right hand early in the fourth round. Price’s straight right hand landed later in the fourth.

Several seconds later, Price unloaded two left-right combinations that landed. Hawkins responded by buzzing Price with an overhand right to the side of his head.

Price recovered and made the remainder of the round competitive.

Hawkins kept Price on his back foot for much of the third round. Neither fighter landed many impactful punches in those three minutes, though.

Price nailed Hawkins with a straight right hand early in the second round. Hawkins took it well and landed a left hook to the body that made Price hold him later in the second round.

Hawkins landed a right hand that backed up Price a little less than a minute into the fight. As they stood in the center of the ring, Price clipped Hawkins with a short left hook a little later in the first.

Price slipped on the wet canvas near his corner and went down just before the first round ended. 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.