CHESTER, W.Va. — The best — and deciding— punch of the fight came just after the bell.

And left Chad Van Sickle hearing bells.

Brian Minto sent Van Sickle to the canvas with a thundering left hook just after the bell sounded to end the first round of their World Boxing AssociationFedecentro heavyweight title fight Sunday at The Harv.

Van Sickle (22-8-2) stayed down on one knee, holding the rope for support, as Minto headed back to his corner.

"I was getting ready for the second round when I looked back and saw him still down,"the Butler boxer said. "I knew I caught him. I guess I caught him better than I thought."

Van Sickle was helped to his feet by his handlers, then helped to his corner. The ringside doctor looked him over as a glassy-eyed Van Sickle sat on the stool.

The doctor would not allow Van Sickle — bleeding from a sharp cut behind an ear — to continue, giving Minto a first-round TKO.

Most of the first round moved at a slow pace. Van Sickle grabbed Minto (30-2) and held him at every opportunity.

"I wasn't giving myself enough distance from him,"Minto said. "He's a veteran fighter and kept tying me up. Once I gave myself more separation and hit him in the body a little bit, things opened up."

That didn't happen until late in the round, however. A left from Minto hit Van Sickle square in the face, sending him into the ropes. The two were exchanging punches along the ropes when the bell sounded.

Both fighters were swinging as referee Dave Johnson stepped in to separate them. As Minto turned to head for his corner, Van Sickle crumpled to the canvas.

"Both guys were throwing punches after the bell,"Johnson said. "Had Brian been the only one punching and this happened, he would have lost the bout.

"Because they were both punching and one guy can't continue, the other guy wins by technical knockout."

Van Sickle didn't see it that way.

"He (Minto) threw the last punch. That was obvious, because I went down,"the Columbus, Ohio) fighter said.

"I'm not saying Brian's a dirty fighter. I have a lot of respect for that guy. It's just unfortunate this fight had to end this way.

"I trained hard. I was prepared to take this 12 rounds,"Van Sickle added.

Van Sickle did connect with a solid punch to Minto's head early in the round.

"He lunged forward suddenly. It surprised me,"Minto said. "That's OK. It didn't bother me."

The knockout was Minto's 19th as a professional. He will likely return to The Harv for a July 2 card that will be televised by ESPN.

"That's a possibility, but I'm always hopeful of something bigger coming along,"Minto said. "Boxing can be a funny sport."

Van Sickle, a former NABAcruiserweight champion, insisted Sunday was his final fight.

"I'm done. That's it. I'm just sorry it ended like this,"he said. "It was weird, the end of this fight. Just one of those things, I guess."

Minto has won his last three rights — all at the Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort — by first-round knockouts. They are also his only three fights since losing a unanimous decision to top-10 ranked heavyweight Luan Krasniqi in Germany.

"I'm trying to get ranked in the top 10 of the WBA," Minto said. "Some guys who are ranked there haven't fought in over a year.

"I want to get back into the national picture. After I lost (to Krasniqi), a lot of people wrote me off. With my sparring and work in the gym, I feel like I'm better than ever."

Minto wasn't the only Butler boxer to win Sunday. Middleweight Dave Cook improved to 2-0 with a second-round knockout of Mike Melbar (2-2) of Cleveland, Ohio.

The fight was stopped with nine seconds left in the round as Cook connected with a combination to the stomach, then staggered Melbar with a left to the head.

Earlier in the round, Melbar let out a groan when Cook nailed him in the gut with an uppercut.

"Yeah, I learned something there," Cook said. "He didn't like those body punches. If you kill the body, the head will die."

Melbar showed little offense against Cook and delayed the second round for a few minutes by doubling over from what referee Tim Wheeler ruled was a low blow.

Wheeler gave Melbar all the time he needed to recover from the punch.

"It wasn't a low blow," Cook's trainer, Don Spinetti, said. "He (Melbar) was looking for some time to rest and he got it."

"That punch hit him square on the belt,"Cook agreed. "Hey, he's a smart guy. If I was in that situation, I'd do the same thing."

Cook will likely face Pittsburgh middleweight Jimmy Lubash (6-1, 3 KOs) on that July 2 card at Mountaineer. Lubash scored a third-round knockout of Robert Wilder (2-3) of Akron, Ohio, Sunday.

"We came up through amateurs together and fought a lot of the same guys,"Cook said. "I've got all the respect in the world for Jimmy. It'll be a big challenge to get in the ring with him."

Spinetti said the fight will likely happen.

"All the paperwork's not done, but they announced the match out there (in the ring), so it's probably on,"Spinetti said.

Notes:Minto also won the vacant West Virginia heavyweight title. ... Verquan Kimbrough (20-1-1) of Aliquippa retained his NABAlightweight title with a 10-round unanimous decision over Rodney Jones (27-8).