Minto keeps busy
BUTLER TWP— His eyes still on bigger things, Brian Minto will return to the ring April 17 as the main event of a pro-amateur boxing card at the Butler Days Inn.
Minto (32-2, 21 KOs), 34, has not fought at the Days Inn since scoring an eight-round unanimous decision over Jermell Barnes on July 12, 2005.
The Butler heavyweight had hoped to fight unbeaten Chris Arreola in Las Vegas next month, but Arreola is fighting 38-year-old Jameel McCline.
"We called him out (on the Internet), did everything we could,"Minto said. "Arreola never even called us. We heard nothing from him."
A proposed fight at Robert Morris University, which was scheduled to be televised by HBO, never materialized, either.
"It seems like there's politics even where they (HBO)are concerned," a frustrated Minto said.
Minto's opponent April 17 is expected to be announced by the end of the week.
"I'm looking for the highest ranked guy out there who is willing to come to Butler and take on Brian,"Minto's manager, Pat Nelson, said. "There are several people out there who are thinking about it."
The structure of the fight card will depend on the caliber of Minto's opponent and whether Minto's WBAFedecentro heavyweight title will be on the line.
While the heavyweight title picture is tied up with mandatory defenses for the next year, Minto has an outside shot of fighting Wladimir Klitschko for the latter's WBOcrown in Germany in June.
Klitschko is supposed to fight David Haye in England that month, but repeated snags in negotiations have kept that fight from becoming official.
"If the Haye fight doesn't happen, Klitschko said he'll move the fight to Germany and find another opponent,"Nelson said. "The only available, realistic options out there would be James Toney or Brian Minto."
Minto is ranked 10th in the world by the WBOand 15th by the WBA.
"Maybe I'll get a phone call from Klitschko one of these days,"Minto said. "Who knows?I just try to stay focused, keep training. ... Knock on enough doors, someone will answer sometime.
"Right now, I'm looking for a suitable opponent who's going to give me rounds. I'm still paying for these opponents to come in and they're not coming cheap. It's like I'm investing in my career."
Also returning to the ring on the April 17 card is super middleweight Dave Cook (3-2) of Butler.
Cook has not fought since September. He suffered a broken nose in his last fight, then broke his hand sparring.
"He's been doing some light training and a lot of running,"said Don Spinetti, Cook's trainer. "We expect David to get back to heavy training in a couple of weeks."
An opponent for Cook has not been finalized, but it might be Sam Suska of South Park, who will be making his professional debut on the card. Suska defeated Cook when both were amateur fighters.
Tickets for the eight-bout card are $35 for general admission, $750 for tables. Tickets will become available Wednesday by calling the Days Inn at 724-287-6761.
