In the biggest fight of his life, Brian Minto delivered the best in-ring performance of his life.

Minto, 30, won every round and left Vince Maddalone a bloody mess Saturday night before scoring a technical knockout 1:21 into the seventh round of their heavyweight fight at the Times Forum in St. Petersburg, Fla.

"I figured I'd win the fight, but this was easier than I thought," Minto said Sunday morning.

The scheduled 10-round bout was on the undercard of Antonio Tarver's unanimous decision over Roy Jones Jr. in a light heavyweight title fight. It was telecast live on HBO pay per view.

The one-sided victory has Minto's camp thinking title fight itself.

"Brian's never looked better," trainer Tom Yankello said. "He hurt Maddalone 30 or 40 seconds into the first round and dominated him from there.

"I think Brian's ready for just about anyone now. I'd love to see him fight (33-year-old, second-ranked) John Ruiz next. If he fought Tony Tubbs again, he'd knock him out inside of five rounds.

"That's how much better Brian is now than he was then," Yankello added.

Tubbs scored a split decision over Minto Dec. 30 at The Harv in Chester, W.Va., before about 5,000 fans. There were 20,000 fans in the St. Petersburg arena.

"I think I won them over," Minto said. "I could hear them cheering for me as the fight went on."

Minto (21-1, 12 KOs) opened up a cut around Maddalone's left eye in the first round. By the end of the fight, Maddalone was bleeding profusely from cuts above and below that eye.

After the fight, he needed 37 stitches to close the gashes.

Maddalone suffered a cut over his left eye in a fight against Shannon Miller Aug. 19.

"It couldn't have been (healed) completely," Yankello said. "Brian opened it up almost right away."

"My white shorts were red-stained with his blood after the fight," Minto said. "I need a new pair of boxing shoes because the ones I wore Saturday are saturated with blood."

Minto said he hit Maddalone with 15 consecutive left hooks in the seventh round before the referee stepped in and stopped the fight.

"He should have stopped it much earlier," Minto said. "He (Maddalone) was out on his feet. The guy's got a tough chin and just wouldn't go down."

Minto weighed in at 212 pounds Friday while Maddalone weighed in at 233. Maddalone (25-3, 18 KOs) had won his last three fights by knockout, all within six rounds or less.

He didn't begin Saturday's fight by trying to go after Minto.

"He came out and tried to outbox me, tried to throw me off," Minto said. "We were prepared for that. I was able to get inside on him and once I tagged him, he tried punching his way out.

"I was able to slip him and hurt him. I know I hurt him a bunch of times. He almost went down in the third and fourth rounds. He never hurt me."

Minto suffered only a welt under an eye, courtesy of a Maddalone jab early in the fight.

Yankello said Minto's face would be healed within two weeks.

"This fight took nothing out of Brian at all," Yankello said. "He should be ready for another fight in six weeks or so."

Minto said he hopes to fight again before Christmas.

"Now I'm looking for a big pay day," he said. "This was all good. It was an impressive win on pay per view and it gave me the exposure I've needed.

"I'd love to go back on TV. I'm gonna go home, take it easy for a while and see what happens."