Undefeated rising star Adrien Broner continued to work his way up boxing's food chain, dropping tough Gavin Rees twice, then battering the Welshman against the ropes before the fight was stopped at 2:59 of the fifth round Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Broner started slow, being outworked by Rees, who appeared to win the first two rounds. But Broner dropped Rees with a right uppercut in the fourth round, then came back with a devastating body shot that dropped Rees to his knees.

Broner clowned in the ring several times during the fight, but took a lot of punches in the first few rounds from Rees, who at 5-foot-4, was several inches shorter than Broner.

Broner raised his record to 26-0 with 22 KOs, while Rees fell to 37-2-1 with 18 KOs.