MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- Miguel 'Happy' Lora retained his World Boxing Council bantamweight title Friday night with a unanimous decision over Ray Minus Jr., his former sparring partner, at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
Lora, 26, of Monteria, Colombia, improved to 28-0 with 14 knockouts.
Minus, 22, of Nassau, Bahamas, ranked No. 10 in the WBC, dropped to 21-3-1.
'My strategy was to go full blast from the sixth round on,' Lora said. 'I got to him right away and didn't have any trouble at all the rest of the fight. He gave me a few problems early on with his hit-and-run style, but I adjusted to that and then had it pretty easy once I broke his nose.'
Judge Tony Castellano of New York scored the fight 117-110, Antonio Marino of Venezuela had it 120-115, and Anselmo Escobedo of Mexico ruled it 118-110. Both fighters weighed in at 118 pounds for the 12-round bout.
'All he did was lean on the ropes,' he said. 'I don't think he hurt me at all. We got robbed in the decision and I want a rematch.'
Minus worked as one of Lora's sparring partners when the Colombian made a successful challenge for Daniel Zarragoza's crown 27 months ago. Later, when Lora made his first title defense against Wilfredo Vasquez, he again used Minus.
Friday's bout was Lora's fourth title defense. He won the crown in Miami Aug. 8, 1985.
Minus is the son of Ray Minus Sr., his trainer and a former welterweight nicknamed 'The Fighting Policeman.' The younger Minus started boxing at age 11, turned pro in 1982 at 16 and is the Commonwealth bantamweight champion.
