Brian Minto will return to the ring in April, but the location of the bout and the identity of his opponent are up in the air.

Minto (32-2, 21 KOs) hasn't fought since Nov. 1, when the Butler heavyweight knocked out Galen Brown in the fourth round at Slippery Rock University.

He has won his last five fights by knockout — the previous four in the first round.

"We have a lot of lines in the water here," said Minto, who recently turned 34. "I feel like I'm sitting in a pretty good position."

Minto's manager Pat Nelson is trying to get him on an April 11 fight card in Las Vegas against Chris Arreola (26-0, 23 KO's). Minto is ranked No. 10 by the World Boxing Organization; Arreola is ranked No. 3.

The snag in that matchup, which would be televised by HBO, is that Arreola is hopeful of landing a fight against WBOchampion Wladimir Klitschko, should a proposed Klitschko-David Haye fight fall through.

Klitschko's negotiations with Haye's camp have hit repeated snags.

"Their target is Klitschko because that's where the money's at,"Minto said of Arreola. "Do I blame them?No. But I feel like I'm ready for the next step, too, and I'm just as worthy as he is."

Minto called outArreola on FightNews.com earlier this month, stating that "a fight between two top 10 heavies would help clarify the status of the heavyweight division"

Minto added that the winner of his fight with Arreola should fight WBONo. 1 challenger Alexander Dimitrenko (29-0) in a final WBOheavyweight eliminator to determine who gets a title shot against Klitschko.

"I'm willing to earn my shot. Is Arreola willing to earn his?"Minto said on the website.

"This (Arreola) fight is something Brian wants badly,"Nelson said. "We just have to wait and see if all the pieces fall into place.

"We've got a few other things in the works in case they don't."

Another possible opponent for Minto is 36-year-old Donnell Holmes (29-0, 25 KO's) in a main event on Versusat Robert Morris University.

Holmes has not fought since June 27, when he scored a second-round knockout of Benito Fernandez (19-15).

"When we last talked to them, the network didn't want to commit to that because it was still a ways off,"Minto said of a fight with Holmes. "But they are still looking at it."

Holmes has not fought the same caliber of opponents as Arreola, whose last three fights were wins over Travis Walker (28-1-1), Israel Carlos Garcia (19-1-0) and Chazz Witherspoon (23-0).

A final possibility for Minto would be on an April 17 card at the Days Inn in Butler. His opponent would be Marcus McGee (21-16, 10 KO's), who Minto was scheduled to fight Nov. 1 before McGee incurred an injury.

McGee, 37, is from Tuscaloosa, Ala.

"That's a local card they're putting together with (Butler fighters)Jim Emrick and Dave Cook,"Nelson said. "If Brian needs to take that fight to stay busy, he'll do it."

"When it comes to my continuing to fight these B-level fighters, ... I don't want to do it,"Minto admitted. "But it's important for me to stay active in the ring.

"I have to keep busy and I have to stay in shape. You never know when the phone is gonna ring."