Man on a mission
Brian Minto is at his best when he's busy.
That's why the Butler heavyweight boxer will step into the ring for the 17th time in less than three years Friday night at The Harv in Chester, W.Va.
Minto (25-1, 14 KOs) will face Andy Sample (34-13-2) of Topeka, Kansas, in a six-round bout sometime that evening.
"Anyone coming to see me fight should get there early,"Minto said. "They may put us on toward the front of the card, toward the back, we may be a swing bout. They haven't told us."
Two fights on this card will be aired live on ESPN2's Friday Night at the Fights. Edner Cherry (20-34-2, 9 KOs) of Wauchula, Fla., opposes Daniel Alicea (30-5-2, 22 KOs) of Camden, N.J., for the NABFlightweight title in the main event.
Cherry is coming off an 11th-round TKOof previously unbeaten Monte Meza-Clay.
The other televised bout will be IBAworld lightweight champion Meza-Clay (20-1) of Rankin, Pa., against Dean White (13-4-1, 6 KOs) of Reston, Va.
Minto has won seven consecutive fights — three by either technical knockout or knockout — since suffering the lone loss of his career Dec. 30, 2004, to Tony Tubbs at The Harv.
His last two fights have been nationally-televised decisions over Billy Zumbrun and Danny Batchelder. Minto has not fought an opponent with a losing record since taking on Kevin Tallon (9-15) in July of 2004.
Nine fights later, Minto is still searching for a big-money fight.
"I'm OKwith it," he said. "You have to stay mentally focused on what you're doing. There's no sense looking ahead. I don't want to get beat by one of these guys."
While Sample has a solid overall record, he has lost five of his last six fights, getting stopped in the first round in three of them.
Sample lost by TKOin the first round of his last fight, against unbeaten Jean Francois Bergeron (23-0) earlier this year. He was knocked out in the first round by Jameel McCline (32-6-3) in November of 2005.
Unbeaten Sultan Ibragimov (16-0) scored a TKOover Sample in June of last year.
The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Sample's lone win in his last six fights is a six-round majority decision over Karl Evans (2-12-1).
When asked what concerned him about Sample, Minto replied:"Nothing."
Weighing 213Z\x pounds, Minto said his goal is to take his bigger foe out early.
"I'll be throwing punches with bad intentions,"Minto said. "My job is to get inside on him and bang his body. I won't look for the knockout right away, but I want the knockout."
Minto said he hopes to land his elusive "big" fight before the end of the year.
"There are some things in the works," he said, declining to elaborate.
Friday's fight card begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $125 for platinum, $60 for gold, $40 reserved and $20 general admission. Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster locations.
"I'm anticipating a packed house. That always gets you pumped up to put on a good show,"Minto said.
