LAS VEGAS – Rigoberto Hermosillo didn’t do enough to win Saturday, but he gave Viktor Slavinskyi a difficult fight on the Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz undercard.

When it ended, all three judges credited Slavinskyi for winning their six-round junior lightweight fight. Tim Cheatham scored all six rounds for Slavinskyi (60-54), whereas Chris Migliore credited Slavinskyi for winning five rounds (59-55) and Glenn Trowbridge had Slavinskyi taking four rounds (58-56).

Ukraine’s Slavinskyi remained unbeaten (11-0-1, 6 KOs). The Mexican-born Hermosillo, of Victorville, California, lost for the second time as a pro (11-2-1, 8 KOs).

Hermosillo connected with several straight, left hands in the sixth round of what amounted to a highly competitive clash between southpaws.

Slavinskyi’s stiff jab snapped back Hermosillo’s head in the final minute of the fourth round. Slavinskyi also connected with a straight left late in the fourth round.

An accidental clash of heads caused a cut over Slavinskyi’s right eye in the fourth round as well.

Slavinskyi cracked Hermosillo with an overhand left just before the third round ended, but Hermosillo took that shot well. Slavinskyi and Hermosillo each landed a flush left hand just before the second round ended.

In the previous bout Saturday, Angel Alejandro defeated his Filipino foe a fight after his previously unbeaten, older brother got upset.

The 19-year-old Alejandro out-landed Mark John Yap and won their six-round junior lightweight fight by unanimous decision on the Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz undercard at MGM Grand Garden Arena. All three judges – Max De Luca (58-56), Don Trella (58-56) and Ricardo Ocasio (58-56) – scored their reasonably competitive fight for Alejandro (8-0, 4 KOs).

Alejandro appeared to have heavier hands in the first two rounds. Yap displayed toughness, though, and landed enough hard right hands of his own to keep Alejandro honest and make the fight competitive.

A left hook by Alejandro knocked Yap off balance a few seconds before the first round ended. He never came close to dropping Yap (30-15, 15 KOs) following the opening round.

Earlier Saturday, Jhon Gemino pulled off an upset.

The Filipino veteran entered his fight against unbeaten Arnold Alejandro, Angel’s older brother, with 12 losses on his record. That didn’t stop the determined underdog from flooring Alejandro twice and knocking him out in the fifth round of a scheduled eight-round, junior lightweight bout.

After suffering a first-round knockdout, the 23-year-old Alejandro appeared to box his way to winning rounds before Gemino blasted him with a perfect right hand on the chin. That shot sent Alejandro flat on his back with approximately 1:18 to go in the fifth round.

Referee Robert Byrd waved an end to their bout immediately, 1:45 into the fifth round.

Gemino, 27, improved to 21-12-1 and recorded his 11th knockout. Alejandro slipped to 11-1 (10 KOs).

A counter left hook by Gemino caught Alejandro by surprise and sent him to the canvas in the first round. Gemino attacked as soon as the action resumed, but he couldn’t capitalize on the initial knockdown he scored.

In the first fight Saturday, Jose Manuel Gomez started off the Wilder-Ortiz undercard with a knockout.

Gomez, a super featherweight prospect from Huntington Park, California, knocked down Daniel Placeres three times en route to a technical-knockout victory. Gomez (12-0, 5 KOs) dropped Miami’s Placeres (8-3-1, 7 KOs) once apiece in the first, second and third rounds during his convincing victory.

Placeres’ handlers instructed referee Robert Hoyle to stop their scheduled eight-round, 130-pound bout before the start of the fourth round.

A straight left hand by Gomez sent Placeres to the canvas in the third round. Placeres reached his feet, only to take more punishment prior to the round ending.

After a blistering exchange in which each fighter landed hard shots toward the end of the second round, Gomez dropped Placeres with a left to the body when there were five seconds to go in it. Placeres got off his gloves and knees in time to answer referee Robert Hoyle’s count.

Gomez landed a right hand to the side of Placeres’ head that knocked him down early in the first round.

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