BUTLER TWP— Brian Minto has his eye on the future — near and far.

The Butler heavyweight boxer has an eight-round bout scheduled against 38-year-old Ray Lunsford (19-7) of Benton, Ark., Thursday night at Mountaineer Racetrack and Resort in Chester, W.Va.

Minto (27-2) is treating that bout as a tune-up for a lucrative pay-per-view fight against Joe Mesi (345-0, 28 KOs) of Buffalo, N.Y., in October.

"It's always dangerous when you take a step backward,"Minto said in terms of quality of opponent. "But that's the way this game is sometimes. You do what you have to do to get where you want to be.

"This is a business. I want to come off a win, get my confidence back up. I'm confident right now. Both of my losses have been close."

Minto hasn't fought since dropping a 10-round decision to Luann Krasniqi in March.

Lunsford won his last fight by disqualification over Danny Wofford in May. In his two most recent bouts before that, he lost by TKOin the first round to Canadian heavyweight champion David Cadieux and by second-round TKOto unbeaten JDChapman.

Cadieux has been a sparring partner of Minto's.

"He filled me in on him (Lunsford),"Minto said. "He said he's a tough guy who comes straight at you. I'm giving away a lot of weight to him, so I'm sure he'll try to take advantage of that early.

"I'm not going to do anything stupid and get caught with a punch early. The first round or two is when this guy will be the most dangerous. But if the opening's there, I'll take it."

Mesi, who was only cleared to fight recently after suffering a serious head injury in the ring, had a fight scheduled for September, but had to pull out due to injury.

He is supposed to be at ringside for the Minto fight Thursday.

Minto will not be the only local fighter on that card. Jim Emrick, who turns 37 in two weeks, will make his pro boxing debut against a former Ohio Toughman competitor in a four-round bout.

Emrick runs the Eyes on the Prize boxing gym in the Butler Health and Fitness Center on North Duffy Road. Minto recently joined Emrick's business venture as an equal partner.

Emrick is a former kick-boxer and opened his own gym to train 10-year-old sons Jimmy and Justin, as well as other interested prospective local fighters.

"I've got four serious boxers in here now and about 15 guys who train and work out here,"Emrick said. "When Brian's through with boxing, I know he's going to stay in boxing in some capacity.

"Instead of compete against him in building a gym, I figured we'd join forces. It's a good deal for him and a great deal for me."

Former pro boxer Billy Wolfe is working with fighters at Eyes on the Prize as well.

Emrick was a sparring partner of Minto's 10 years ago at the Butler Cubs, before Minto turned pro.

"I wasn't going to try boxing myself until I started working with (Minto's trainer)Tommy Yankello for a few days,"Emrick said. "I improved so much during that time.

"I'm giving it a shot. I'm only going to learn so much in two weeks of working with Yankello before this first fight, so I'm not expecting too much. If I have to, I'll revert back to a brawling style to get through this first fight, but I'm going to give myself a fair chance as a fighter."

Minto and Emrick will give their gym a fair chance as well. Andres Taylor, 28, of Johnstown, the top-ranked amateur heavyweight in the country by USABoxing, already trains at Eyes on the Prize.

Taylor is going to Romania in early September to compete in the Golden Belts Champions with the United States national team.

"These guys have been around for a while and they know what they're doing,"Taylor said of Minto, Yankello and Emrick. "I come over here three days a week. I'm planning on turning pro at the end of the year, then I'll come over every day if I can."

Minto said he hopes to have their own building five years down the road.

"There are a lot of athletes in this town who could get into boxing and do well,"he said. "We want to build the sport back up in Butler. Football players can use a place like this to get in shape, too.

"(Boxing trainer)Tony Atlas works with the New York Jets. Boxing training methods work well with other sports.

"If we can branch off and form a residential treatment facility for kids in the area ... That's what I want to do. I want to give back,"Minto added.

Tickets for Minto's upcoming fight are $30 for general admission, $50 for gold seating and $100 for ringside.

Call 724-504-6708 or 724-496-4158.