Ronnie Rios hands Jayson Velez his first loss

LAS VEGAS - California's Ronny Rios used an array of body and head shots to hand Puerto Rico's Jayson Velez the first loss of his career, winning a unanimous decision Saturday night in a 10-round featherweight bout at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

The fight was part of the pay-per-view undercard of the Miguel Cotto-Canelo Alvarez middleweight title fight.

The ringside judges gave Rios his decision by scores of 97-92, 95-94 and 96-93.

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Rios (25-1, 10 KOs), a former U.S. Amateur champion, was warned several times early for hitting below the belt, and referee Jay Nady finally took a point from Rios in the fifth round.

Rios, from Santa Ana, Calif., pursued Velez (23-1-1, 16 KOs) from the start, pressuring him and dictating the pace of the fight.

"I felt like I was landing more power punches than him," said Rios. "He did throw a few body shots at me that hurt but they weren't significant enough for me to stop pressuring him and doing what I needed to do to secure this victory. He actually surprised me; I thought he was going to use the jab all night but he was definitely getting in the inside. This is a really big victory for me. I have a belt now, and I know that bigger things will come my way because of it."

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Rios landed 182 power punches to Velez's 135, and 40 more overall than Velez, 199 to 159.

"I was expecting that to be a tough fight, but I did my job," said Velez. "He had some good rounds, I had some good rounds. I think the deduction is what really got me. I did my job tonight but he was better at his job tonight."