Michael Alexander is looking for a step up — and hopes to find it in Butler.

An agreement has been reached for Alexander, 36, of Columbus, Ohio, to be Brian Minto's opponent in the 10-round professional boxing main event Aug. 14 at Pullman Park.

The bout will be for the NABA cruiserweight title.

"We have an agreement in principle with Alexander and his handlers," Minto's manager, Pat Nelson, said Friday. "The contract has been sent out and we expect to have it back by the end of the weekend."

Alexander (12-4, 8 KOs) replaces Damon Reed (45-13), Minto's originally scheduled opponent who opted out to fight former WBC and IBF heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman on that same date.

"Like Brian, Alexander has had a lot of fights in the heavyweight division before moving to cruiserweight," Nelson said.

Alexander was 11-0 at one point, but has dropped four of his last five fights. He has not fought since suffering a second-round technical knockout at the hands of Nicholas Iannuzzi (12-0) in a cruiserweight bout Nov. 6 of last year.

Alexander's last three fights — all losses — have been at cruiserweight. He lost a unanimous five-round decision to Rico Hoye (20-2) and a unanimous eight-round decision to Alexander Frenkel (12-0) in Germany.

His other loss is a 10-round unanimous decision to Chazz Witherspoon (12-0) in a heavyweight bout. The four fighters to beat Alexander were a combined 56-3 at the time.

"This guy was on season three of The Contender two years ago," Nelson said. "He's been in training, looking for an opportunity."

Alexander is being trained by James "Buster Douglas, who stunned Mike Tyson with a 10th-round knockout to win the heavyweight title in February of 1990. John Johnson, who trained Douglas (now 50), is also working with Alexander.

Both will be in Alexander's corner the night he faces Minto.

Tickets for the pro-am fight card are available during live events at Pullman Park or at the Butler Redevelopment Authority, 114 Woody Drive, 724-283-0016.