Brian Minto and Vinnie Maddalone have a combined pro boxing record of 38-1.

Twenty-five of their wins are knockouts.

Their 10-round heavyweight fight is scheduled to take place in Atlantic City.

And, by the way, the bout will be nationally televised on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. Friday.

Add that all up, and you can't blame Minto if he feels a bit more anxious than usual entering this fight.

"I've fought on local television before, but this will be my first time nationally," said Minto, who will face Maddalone at the Tropicana Casino Resort. "I guess you could say it's my coming-out party."

Minto is coming off a second-round TKO of Kevin Tallon July 7 at Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming in West Virginia. The win raised his record to a perfect 17-0 (10 KO) and his world heavyweight ranking to 79th.

Maddalone's latest fight was a fifth-round TKO of Joe Lenhart June 12 in Bermuda. The 30-year old is a native of Flushing, N.Y., is now 21-1 (15 KO) and ranked 98th in the world. .

Minto also counts Lenhart among his victims, defeating the boxer from Cleveland by a unanimous six-round decision last November at the Butler Cubs Hall.

"This is definitely going to be my stiffest challenge yet," Minto said of Maddalone. "I've been studying tapes of him for a few weeks. He's got about one, maybe two inches on me and outweighs me by 15 pounds.

"But that's nothing new," he added. "Everybody I fight is bigger than me."

Minto's most serious concern will be dodging Maddalone's powerful punches.

"He's a big, strong guy," said Minto. "He throws a lot of punches, but his boxing skills don't look all that great. I'm looking to move around a lot and mix it up. I don't want this to turn into a slugfest."

Minto's, trainer, Tom Yankello, is impressed with the shape his pupil is in.

"He now runs a six-minute mile," Yankello said. "You just don't see 210-pound guys doing that.

"He's in excellent shape. It speaks of the tremendous heart and work ethic he has," he added.

"I've been able to get a lot of cardiovascular work in," Minto said. "And that's good, because I'm going to need my legs in this one."

Yankello knows a good deal about Maddalone and said he feels Minto is simply the better athlete.

"The power in Brian's punches has increased tremendously," he said. "I look for this fight to be a great battle for the first four or five rounds. After that, Vinnie tends to gas out and gets tired quickly.

"Brian is in great shape and he could go all 10 (rounds) if he had to. But I don't think it's going to last that long."

But Minto has been around too long to take anything for granted.

"Anything can happen in the ring; you just never know," he said. "I'm just looking to stay focused."