by James Slater – Last night, in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, Brian “The Beast” Minto, one of the more active of today’s heavyweights, scored his fifth KO win in a row, and his third this year, as he despatched late replacement, southpaw Galen Brown in the 4th round. Decking the 27-year-old twice in the 4th round, Minto won at 1 minute and 34 seconds of the session. Now with an impressive record of 32-2(20), what the 33-year-old desperately needs is a fight against a big name opponent. Brown, who came in when original foe Marcus McGee pulled out injured, fell to 31-10-1(19)..
Minto had been hoping to score his fourth 1st round KO in a row, but instead had to make do with a 4th round stoppage. Still, fight fans love to see knockouts, especially from the heavyweights, and “The Beast” is a very popular fighter in his area. What he needs now is to make the breakthrough and become a big name on the national scene.
Minto has a lot going for him. He’s rugged, pretty fast with his hands, exciting and he has never been stopped. Claiming he’s big enough at approx 215 pounds to get inside and out-work the really big heavyweights, Minto deserves the chance to prove it. Ranked just outside the top ten by the big organisations, the 33-year-old should get something at least approaching a big fight next year.
In an interview with this writer, Minto said he’d love to once again travel for a fight, having already boxed in Germany. He also said he feels his big opportunity will come, and that he’s just being patient until then. However, Minto also informed me how he has been offered fights with recognisable names, but only for lousy and all but insulting money. Bouts with guys like Audley Harrison, Kevin Johnson, Eddie Chambers or the come-backing Lamon Brewster would be extremely interesting fights for Minto, and against this type of competition he wouldn’t be anywhere near in over his head.
The clock is ticking, but as long as he continues to despatch guys the way he did Galen Brown last night, Minto’s big shot at glory will surely come. For what it’s worth, Minto defended his WBA Fedecentro heavyweight title for the third time. Once again performing in front of a sell-out crowd, “The Beast” had his second fight in a row in his native Pennsylvania.