The time has come for Brian Minto.

Or so we hope.

The Butler heavyweight boxer will turn 33 later this month and has been working over his opponents of late. Three of his last five fights — against Andy Sample, Ray Lunsford and Byron Polley, respectively — ended in the first round, with Minto all smiles in the ring after hardly working up a sweat.

Such a scene is encouraging for a fighter, but is growing tiresome to the boxing fan.

Minto, nicknamed "The Beast"for his punching prowess, and his handlers have been trying to land a big-time fight for quite some time now.

It's time he was given one.

Polley was an OK opponent. He had a 21-7 record and has been in the ring against some notable competition only to be knocked out early by said notable competition.

Minto followed suit and took Polley out in the first round. A solid right hand cut him above the eve and a straight right to the temple finished Polley less than two minutes into the fight.

Now Minto needs some notable competition of his own.

Here are a few candidates:

• Joe Mesi, 36-0 with 29 knockouts, of Buffalo, N.Y. He has stopped his last three foes in the first round, most recently sending Shannon Miller to the canvas on Oct. 12.

Mesi and Minto nearly got together before. That subject would be worth revisiting.

• Michael Moorer, 51-4 with 39 KOs, of Monessen. Now 40, the former world champion is ranked sixth by the World Boxing Association and a matchup of two Western Pennsylvania fighters seems like a natural.

• Mike Mollo, 19-1 with 12 KOs, of Illinois. The 27-year-old is facing Andrew Golota in two weeks for the WBA Fedalatin title. Ranked eighth by the WBA, Mollo could face Minto for the right to climb the ladder.

• Kevin Johnson, 18-0 with six KOs. The 28-year-old is ranked 12th by the WBA. Again, this match could determine who moves up.

• Hasim Rahman, 45-6 with 36 KOs, of Baltimore, was a major player in the heavyweight division only a short time ago. He is now ranked 13th by the WBA.

•J.D. Chapman, 28-0 with 25 KOs, hails from Arkansas and is ranked 14th by the WBA.

Any of these guys would make a challenging opponent for Minto, whom trainer Tom Yankello claims is only a year away from a possible world title shot.

All of the current heavyweight champions are from foreign soil. Ruslan Chagaev, 23-0 with 17 KOs, is the WBAchampion and lives in Germany. Other champs include Oleg Maskaev (WBC), Wladimir Klitschko (IBF)and Sultan Ibrasimov (WBO).

A title fight involving Minto down the road would likely take place overseas. It helps that he's already fought twice in Germany and more than held his own both times.

Minto is still young enough to get to boxing's promised land, but he needs to take on a contender.

It takes time to find such an opponent, work out the money, site, time and broadcast rights.

That time is now.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle.