SLIPPERY ROCK— Marcus McGee is out. Galen Brown is in. And the fight is on.

Brian Minto has a new opponent for his WBAFedecentro heavyweight title fight Saturday night at Slippery Rock University's Morrow Field House.

McGee (21-16) was forced to pull out after suffering a shoulder injury that will require surgery.

Brown (31-9-1, 19 KOs), a 27-year-old from a small town near Kansas City, Mo., has replaced McGee. Brown and Minto were tentatively scheduled to meet on a Dec. 30 card in Chester, W.Va.

"This was a tough show to put together, but we got it done,"said Minto's manager, Pat Nelson. "We had to move the Brown fight up. He's a southpaw and I was hoping to give Brian a few weeks to prepare for him."

Minto (31-2, 20 KOs) has fought only one left-hander in his pro career, scoring a four-round unanimous decision over Corey Gregory June 28, 2003.

"This definitely throws a monkey wrench into this,"the Butler fighter said. "This guy will be more of a challenge. I'll have to take a couple of rounds to adjust to facing a left-hander, but what are you gonna do?I'll be ready to go."

Brown has been a pro boxer for seven years, but only has a handful of heavyweight bouts. He's primarily fought in the cruiserweight or light-heavyweight class.

Brown was a state champion high school wrestler in Missouri, sporting a 125-16 record.

"Cage fighting hadn't really arrived yet, so boxing was the only physical one-on-one sport out there for me,"Brown said. "I gave it a try. It's my passion now."

Brown has lost five of his most recent seven fights, but against opponents with a combined won-loss record of 121-16.

Included in those defeats was a sixth-round knockout loss to Rob Calloway for the then-vacant IBFworld cruiserweight title in October 2007.

Brown stands 6-feet and said he weighs 228 pounds right now.

"I have no problem with fighting Minto early," he said. "I know he's a tough guy. I've seen him fight on ESPN. But I'm in the gym all the time and I'm always in shape.

"I have no fear against anybody. I fought the Canadian heavyweight champ and he's 7 feet tall and 275 pounds. I hung in there for a while, but hey ... 7 feet tall is 7 feet tall.

Butler middleweight Dave Cook originally was to fight Don Shrock in a rematch Saturday, but had to drop out after suffering a broken nose while sparring last weekend.

Cook's trainer, Don Spinetti, said he hopes to get him medically cleared to fight on a card in New Castle in late November.

Cook has been replaced on Saturday's card by Chris Archer, one of his recent sparring partners.

General admission tickets are $35, ringside seats are $100. Some of both remain available. Call 724-738-2767.

Doors open at 7 p.m. for the 8 p.m. boxing card.