By Francisco Salazar

Former fringe flyweight contender and current bantamweight Oscar Vasquez won a fifth round technical decision over Victor Ruiz Friday night at the Sparks Convention Center in Reno, Nevada.

Vasquez (15-1, 3 knockouts), who was fighting in his hometown, had all he could handle from the southpaw Ruiz, who hails from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Despite Ruiz's aggression, Vasquez did seem to land the more telling blows throughout the fight.

The back-and-forth clash was stopped in the fifth round when an accidental clash of heads opened a cut over the right eye of Vasquez. Vasquez also suffered a cut on the bridge of his nose due to an accidental clash of heads, but it was the cut over Vasquez's eye that prompted the ringside physician to recommend to referee Vic Drakulich to stop the fight.

One judge scored the bout 48-47 for Ruiz (22-8, 15 KOs), while the other two judges scored the bout 48-47 in favor of Vasquez.

Despite having fought not fought as a flyweight in almost a year and a half, Vasquez is still ranked number 15 by the WBO.

Junior lightweight prospect Gabriel Flores dropped Alexander Acuna (2-2, 1 KO) three times en route to a second round knockout victory.

The 17-year-old Flores (5-0, 4 KOs), who is a senior at Cesar Chavez High School in Stockton, California, was the youngest fighter to sign a promotional contract with Top Rank. He was 16 years of age when he signed last year.

In junior bantamweight, Filipino-American Bruno Escalante (15-3-1, 6 KOs) won a six round unanimous decision over Alex Rangel (17-8-3, 11 KOs). The victory snapped a two-bout losing streak for the junior bantamweight.

Rangel, who hails from Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico, has lost his last three bouts.

Let's Get It On Promotions and the Atlantis Resort put together the card.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV.com, and FightNights.com. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing