CENTER TWP — Go where the money is.

After a brief experiment as a cruiserweight, Butler boxer Brian Minto is returning to the heavyweight division and may be part of the fight card on HBO’s Boxing After Dark on Aug. 27.

Minto, 36, has fought only once in the past 14 months — a bout against Pierre Karam last October at Ghost Riders in which Karam “retired’ after two rounds.

“I’m anxious to get back at it now, but my body really needed that rest and I’ve been able to reacquaint myself with family,” Minto said. “I’ve never quit training.

“I work out the same way every day, whether I have a match scheduled or not.”

Minto’s move back to heavyweight may have been precipitated by an offer from current WBC world cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk of Poland, who wanted Minto to fly to Poland to fight for the title.

“The monetary offer was ridiculous,” Minto’s manager, Pat Nelson, said. “Brian can make more money fighting a top heavyweight with no title involved than people are willing to pay him to participate in a world cruiserweight title fight.

“There was an opportunity there, sure, but the reward needs to be worth the risk. This wasn’t even close.”

Nelson would not disclose the amount of Wlodzrczyk’s offer, but it was reportedly well below six figures.

Nelson said Minto (35-4, 22 KOs) has a “50-50 chance” of landing the HBO fight against Seth Mitchell (20-0, 16 KOs), a 29-year-old from Brandywine, Md. The bout would be in San Jose, Calif.

Mitchell has fought seven times since April of 2010, knocking out each of those opponents no later than the fifth round. His last fight was May 13, a first-round KO of Evans Quinn (20-5-1).

“He’s got a big punch and HBO believes he’s the up-and-comer,” Minto said. “He was a linebacker at Michigan State and a really aggressive fighter.

“He’s a big guy, but he;’s green. I’d have to out-box him, out-work him.”

Miotchell is 6-foot-3, 245 pounds. Minto is 5-11 and would go into the ring weighing from 216 to 218 pounds.

“It’s a risk, but that’s what big fights are,” Minto said.

“If you win on HBO, they bring you back,” Nelson said. “A win there and the door opens up again.”

Mionto’s camp is also considering a Sept. 27 date in Connecticut against Tony Grano, 30, a heavyweright from Hebron, Conn., sporting an 18-2-1 record with 14 KOs.

Nelson said the Grano fight would be a NABF eliminator, the winner being in line fopr a mandatory NABF title shot.

“There’s no TV there, but, again, that’s a situation where one fight leads to another,” Nelson said.

Grano won his last fight — a sixth-round TKO of Dominique Alexander 20-10-1) in April — but lost by second round TKO to Nicolai Firtha (17-7-1) in June of 2010 in his second most recent fight.

“It’s been a long time, but I haven’t been sitting around,” Minto said. “I’ve put on 10 pounds of muscle and lost a lot of body fat.

“In this day and age, 36 is the new 26, if you eat and train right.”

If these two fight options fall through, Nelson said a local show would be put together “to keep Brian and other local boxerts busy.”