Brian Minto left this morning for Uncasville, Conn., hoping to make 2006 as successful a boxing season for himself as 2005.

The 31-year-old Butler heavyweight takes on Billy Zumbrun, 33, of Utah in an eight-round bout Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Casino.

The bout will be televised live as part of ESPN2's "Friday Night at the Fights." The Minto-Zumbrun fight is expected to begin between 8 and 8:30 p.m.

"I'm ready,"Minto said Tuesday night. "I've been sparring against Carlton Johnson and he weighs 270 pounds.

"Having that kind of weight leaning on you, pushing you — I know I'm in shape."

Minto (23-1, 14 knockouts) won all five of his fights last year, including a third-round TKO of Troy Weida Dec. 30 in Chester, W.Va. Friday night will mark his first fight of 2006.

Zumbrun (19-6-1, 11 KOs) has won seven of his last eight fights, the lone loss being a 10-round split decision to former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe.

That fight was a comeback fight for Bowe (41-1).

"Bowe weighed 280 pounds and was pretty much a walking punching bag,"Minto said. "Still, he knocked Zumbrun down with a body punch and the guy got back up and finished. That shows he has heart."

Zumbrun's last seven victories have come against opponents with winning records:Stacy Frazier, Mike Pena, Billy Douglas, Tony LaRosa, Wade Lewis, Gary Winmon and Joe Hipp.

"He's a big, strong kid, similar to (Vince)Maddalone,"said Tom Yankello, Minto's trainer. "He's got a good left jab, but he doesn't have the savvy or ring skills that Brian has.

"Muscle doesn't win fights, skill does. I see Brian winning by knockout, somewhere between the fifth and seventh round."

Minto stands 5-feet-11 and expects to weigh between 210 and 212 pounds for the fight. Zumbrun is 6-feet-0 and weighed 225 pounds for his last fight.

"He does a lot of basic, fundamental stuff,"Minto said. "He'll hold off the break and try to punch off the break. He uses his jab quite a bit.

"What I don't know about him is his punching power. I have to respect that. I won't take him for granted."

Minto is ranked No. 37 among the world's heavyweights by boxrec.com. Zumbrun is ranked 90th.

"You want to perform at a high level on national TV,and Brian is going to do that,"Yankello said. "He's like a caged animal right now. I have to keep him in his cage until Friday."

Should Minto come out of Friday's fight unscathed, he might be on ESPN's June 9 boxing card as well.

"They've talked to me about it and they'd like to get me a bigger name opponent,"Minto said. "If I come out of this fight with no cuts or injuries, there's a good chance I'll fight on that card.

"But this is boxing. Anything you say or hear. ... I'll believe it when it happens. At the very least, I'll get some good exposure Friday night."