Brian Minto was well ahead on points by the seventh round.

The Butler heavyweight boxer then put the finishing touches on his 24th professional win.

Holding back much of his arsenal for the majority of his eight-round bout with Billy Zumbrun, Minto began to unleash a barrage of punches on his opponent late in the seventh round.

That momentum carried over into the final round, after which Minto was awarded a unanimous decision Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.

The bout was televised on ESPN2.

The three judges scored the fight 78-74, 79-73 and 79-72.

"Not all fights are perfect., but this was a great performance," said Tom Yankello, Minto's trainer. "On a scale of one to 10, I'd say this was pretty close to a nine."

Minto caught Zumbrun with a left jab and right hook with 50 seconds left in the seventh round, then repeated that same combination 15 seconds later.

With only five seconds remaining in the round, Minto connected on a right hook, followed by a left hook just before the bell.

The blows clearly stunned Zumbrun, who staggered back to his corner.

Minto's goal as the final round began was clear.

"I wanted to get rid of him," Minto said, admitting he was working for a knockout.

And he almost got it.

It took Minto (24-1, 14 KO) only 10 seconds of the eighth round before his jab backed Zumbrun into the ropes. Moments later, it was several hooks that chased Zumbrun into the ropes on the other side of the ring.

At one point, Zumbrun (19-7-1, 11 KO) appeared unable to defend himself, as Minto was holding nothing back with each punch.

"I thought the referee was going to stop the fight," Minto said. "I don't know why he didn't."

Zumbrun, now with a cut under his left eye, gathered himself enough to put up a defense and was able to counter some of Minto's punches, which had lost some of their bite.

"I kind of tired myself out with all of the punches I was throwing there," Minto said.

Minto and Yankello both admitted they were a bit surprised at how well Zumbrun defended himself early in the fight.

"He stayed pretty much true to his form," said Yankello. "But he was harder to hit than we anticipated. He kept blocking Brian's punches with his left hand, which is good fundamental boxing. He's a tough guy and he came to fight."

Minto opened the bout with one left jab after another. He continued that assault in the second round, but never followed the jabs up with a right hook.

"I got complacent with my jabs, and he was defending himself better than I expected," said Minto.

"Brian had a few openings where he could have used his right hand, but he missed them," said Yankello.

The only round Zumbrun won was the third.

Midway through the round, Zumbrun began to establish right and left hooks, which kept Minto off-balance for the duration of the round.

"He got my attention in the third round," said Minto. "He can hit."

Rounds four through six saw Minto re-establish his jab before making a wise decision near the end of the fight.

"I made an adjustment and started fighting closer to him," said Minto. "When I was keeping my distance, he was able to get to me a few times, so I moved in on him."

That affected Zumbrun's defenses just enough to allow for Minto's domination of the final minutes of the fight.

In the final two rounds, Minto landed 83 head shots to Zumbrun's 23.

For the fight, Minto landed 47 percent of his punches, while Zumbrun managed just 34 percent.

Minto, 31, hopes to be back in the ring before long.

"There's another card scheduled for June 9 on ESPN," said Yankello. "We're not sure who (the opponent) would be, but we're hoping to find out in the next week."