Welterweight Bohirzhan Mominov battered and outboxed gatekeeper Cameron Krael over six rounds, overcoming a point deduction to win by unanimous decision Tuesday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Scores were 58-55, 58-55, and 57-56 for Mominov, who improves to 11-0 (8 knockouts).

Mominov, who was a sparring partner for Canelo Alvarez, had not fought since defeating Jonathan Steele by unanimous decision in on March 23 of last year. Tuesday marked Mominov’s second fight with Top Rank.

Krael has fought several prospects and fringe contenders in recent years on Mayweather Promotions cards, where he has recently scored upset victories.

From the opening bell, Mominov closed the distance between the two fighters, connecting with several combinations to the head and body. Krael was content to stand in the pocket to trade with Mominov.

With about a minute left in round three, Mominov stunned Krael with an overhand right to the head, but he did not follow up as Krael was momentarily disoriented. Krael was game, finding success in spurts, but Mominov’s punches began to take their toll on Krael.

Mominov was deducted a point by referee Robert Hoyle in round 6 for landing a punch behind the head of Krael, which he had been warned for earlier in the fight. 

Krael, who resides in Las Vegas, drops to 17-16-3 (4 KOs). 

Middleweight prospect Nikoloz Sekhniashvili landed the more-telling punches to defeat Isiah Jones by unanimous decision over six rounds.

Scores were 60-54, 60-54, and 59-55 for Sekhniashvili (6-0, 4 KOs), who is originally from the country of Georgia and now resides in the Los Angeles suburb of Sherman Oaks.

Jones drops to 8-2, 3 KOs. The Detroit resident has lost his last two bouts.

Heavyweight Hector Perez of Puerto Rico outpointed Cypress, Texas’ Juan Torres (5-3-1, 2 KOs) to win by unanimous decision.

Scores were 59-55, 59-55, and 60-54 in favor of Perez, who improves to 7-2, 3 KOs.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, Boxingscene.com, and FightNights.com. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing