ESPN Boxing

Heavyweight titlist Chris Byrd has already defied the odds so often, what's one more time?

That's Byrd's attitude heading into his heavyweight title rematch with mandatory challenger Wladimir Klitschko (45-3, 40 KOs) in Manheim, Germany, on Saturday (HBO, live at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT, replayed at 10 p.m. ET/PT).

Byrd (39-2-1, 20 KOs) is the underdog against Klitschko, and with good reason.

Besides already having lost to Klitschko in 2000, Byrd will be fighting on Klitschko's turf, and Germany is a very difficult place for foreign fighters to win without a knockout.

Which leads to Byrd's next issue: He has never been a big hitter. He hasn't scored a knockout since fighting a low-level opponent in 2002.

Add to that Klitschko's own major-league power, a 6-inch height advantage and a roughly 30-pound weight advantage over the 6-foot, 215-pound Byrd, who turned pro as a middleweight.

No matter, insisted Byrd, who, despite the constant underdog role, is the longest reigning of the four heavyweight title holders (the others are Hasim Rahman, Nicolay Valuev and Sergei Liakhovich). Byrd has held his belt since easily outpointing Evander Holyfield to win a vacant title Dec. 12, 2002.

"I like the underdog role now," Byrd said just before leaving for Germany. "I used to hate it and worry about it. What do the odds got me at and stuff like that like. Now, going to Germany, I am excited and I am pumped. I am ready to go into hostile territory."

He's done it before with mixed results. The first time he fought in Germany in 2000, he forced Vitali Klitschko -- Wladimir's older brother -- to quit on his stool after nine rounds, pulling off a major upset.

Byrd returned to Germany for his next bout six months later to face Wladimir in a bout promoted as "revenge of the brother." Wladimir exacted revenge for his brother's loss, dropping Byrd twice and giving the American a beating in the decision victory.

Now, six years later, Byrd, undefeated since the loss to Wladimir, is back in Germany to meet him again.

"You go to fight," Byrd said. "You don't worry about the crowd, you don't worry about the judges, you don't worry about the referee. All you can do is get in the ring and perform. You can't have any excuses. You just gotta fight. Forget everybody. When we step in the ring, you just fight, and you fight to the end.

"To be a world champion, you fight wherever. I feel like I get more credibility coming over to Germany to fight and win than anywhere else. I am ready to fight and prove that I really belong in this division. I may be a small guy, but I want to be huge in the division as far as being the man."

Byrd has never been afraid to fight men much bigger than him. With his speed and skills, Byrd always took pride in his ability to make big guys look foolish against him. They would swing and miss, and Byrd would hit and run.

Now that Byrd is 35 and has slowed a step, he said he will be content to trade more with Klitschko than he has done with previous opponents. It's perhaps a dangerous strategy, but one Byrd promised to use.

"I like fighting big guys, but now I want to make these big guys fight back," said Byrd, who attributed part of his excitement for the fight to the relief of his freedom from promoter Don King. "I used to like to outslick the big guys, make 'em look stupid because they're slow.

"Wladimir is not slow, but I want to see what he's got inside. Is he still going to be fighting hard in the sixth round or is he going to be holding and cowering and using his size to lay on me? I want to see who has the most bullets in the gun.

"You will see a little man forcing a big man to fight him. Ain't gonna be no boxing. I'll come out boxing a little, but we're going to be thumping in there. I will try to trade with him. I want to test his heart. If I can withstand his stuff, I will make him quit. I will go forward. I'll be slipping punches, but I won't waste my energy boxing and moving. Forget all that.

"I will thump with him and test his heart and see if he can fight in the trenches. You have to make these big guys fight. I know I am in shape. Are they in shape to fight me off? Can you keep up the punches for 12 rounds? I know I can. I am cocky now. I got two guns, and they are loaded."

Byrd said that as soon as he starts landing on Klitschko, the Ukrainian will fall apart. He pointed to Klitschko's previous losses against Ross Puritty, Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster as examples of what happens to the 6-6 giant when the pressure is on.

"He can fight, but when adversity hits, he can't handle it," Byrd said of Klitschko. "He handled it pretty well with Samuel Peter, but Peter was inexperienced and underconditioned. Wladimir is a big man and may try to overwhelm me.

"I love it. It's like an addiction. I want him to do it. I want him to hit me so I can hit him back because a show him that I am not scared of him. If he hits me, it better be a good punch because I ain't going anywhere.

"No more finesse Chris Byrd. No more safety first. Forget all that. I have been telling everyone I have been bored with that style, winning every round the same way. I want to make it fun. I'm 35 now and I want to have fun in the ring, and it's fun to rumble. It's going to be fun breaking a big guy down and slowly but surely making him fall apart."

Byrd said his performance in the first match with Wladimir was the worst fight of his career, and he has accused Klitschko of having a foreign substance on his gloves, which impaired Byrd's vision.

"When I watch it, I'm like, 'Did I get hit with that? I can't believe I got hit with that,'" Byrd said. "I actually laugh. I have had bad nights, but not that bad. Off that fight, Wladimir should be one of the top 10 greatest of all time. That wasn't me. I can honestly say that I have learned a lot in the last six years.

"I was getting hit with everything. My father [and trainer, Joe Byrd] almost stopped the fight late in the fight. But I wasn't going to quit. My thought was, 'I am taking a pounding and I am out of this fight, but I am going the distance.' I didn't want to quit like his brother did against me. I was going to take my pounding like a man, take this butt-whipping like a man, and finish on my feet."

Klitschko, who earned the title fight with a decision victory against dangerous puncher Samuel Peter last fall, said that he isn't looking at Byrd as an easy opponent because of his victory against him.

"I think Chris Byrd is a much wiser man and a lot more experienced," Klitschko said. "You cannot buy experience. You have to get it through the years. That is what he did and I think Chris Byrd is much better than [six] years ago, when we fought in the last fight."

Around the ring

Next for Mayweather: Based on the success of Floyd Mayweather-Zab Judah fight on pay-per-view -- at least 350,000 buys -- promoter Bob Arum is moving forward with the next Mayweather PPV bout. It won't be a rematch against Judah despite the order of the IBF, which sanctioned the bout as a welterweight title fight.

Arum told ESPN.com that he is working with casino partners Caesars Palace and the Wynn resort to put together a fight between Mayweather and welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito for Aug. 12 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

The IBF ordered an immediate Mayweather-Judah rematch this week, sending Mayweather a letter in which IBF president Marian Muhammad called the 10th-round melee "one of the most abhorrent displays of unsportsmanlike conduct to occur in boxing."

She wrote that the IBF board was "split in their opinions. Some felt that an immediate disqualification was in order because [of] the blatant infraction by Roger Mayweather and that the title should be declared vacant. Others felt that you should be severely fined and that the title should be vacated. The majority of the board felt that the fairest resolution would be to order a rematch."

	Roger Mayweather

Muhammad then ordered the rematch to take place no later than Aug. 8. Since Mayweather has no intention of fighting Judah again, at least not by Aug. 8, he will be stripped in the next few days of the title, a spurious one at best to begin with, given that Judah was allowed to keep it despite losing a title fight to Carlos Baldomir in January.

Arum said that he has offered Mayweather an $8 million minimum guarantee and Margarito $1.5 million. Both figures would represent, by far, a career-best purse.

"Margarito has signed on," Arum said. "We have worked out all the terms. We had a nice lunch [Wednesday] with him and his people."

	Margarito

Arum said he expects an answer from Mayweather manager Al Haymon on Monday.

"We've discussed it with Al, who is meeting with Floyd over the weekend," Arum said. "They're supposed to get back to us Monday."

Arum originally intended to promote Mayweather's next fight July 29 but he said he moved it -- with the blessing of HBO PPV -- to Aug. 12 to avoid having two pay-per-view cards so close to each other. Shane Mosley and Fernando Vargas will meet in an HBO PPV rematch in Las Vegas on July 15.

"We felt that if it was a matter of two weeks than it was better to have our month than to be in the same month with another pay-per-view show," Arum said. "That makes sense. I talked it over with (HBO PPV's Mark) Taffet and to the people at Caesars Palace and the Wynn, and they had no problem."

A side benefit of the date change, Arum added, was that Mayweather would have a little bit more time to rest his hand, which he banged up in the fight with Judah.

"A little extra time doesn't hurt at all," he said of Mayweather resting the hand. "It's sore, that's all it is."

Arum said he was hopeful that Mayweather would accept the offer.

"I think Al is up for it, but he needs to talk to Floyd," Arum said. "If he wants to go in the summer, Margarito is the only one that makes sense on pay-per-view. There is nobody else for the summer. Everybody else is taken."

Arum cited Miguel Cotto, Jose Luis Castillo, Diego Corrales, Ricky Hatton, Arturo Gatti and Carlos Baldomir as potential opponents who are otherwise occupied this summer.

"If for some reason I don't do Mayweather-Margarito in August, then I will do [the Hasim Rahman-Oleg Maskaev heavyweight title fight] on pay-per-view and couple it with a Margarito fight, and Mayweather will sit until the later part of the year until a more agreeable opponent presents itself," Arum said. "But this fight with Margarito is the opportunity for Floyd to fight three times this year and make three big paydays."

Beyond who Mayweather fights remains the question of who will work his corner in the wake of Roger Mayweather's one-year license revocation.

While he can train his nephew in the gym, Roger Mayweather won't be allowed to work the corner on fight night.

Arum said that while it will be an inconvenience, he said that he didn't think Floyd Mayweather would replace Roger, and would instead go with a two-man corner of assistant Leonard Ellerbe and cutman Rafael Garcia, who worked the final two rounds of the Judah fight after Roger Mayweather was tossed..

"I discussed it with Leonard and he feels he and Rafael Garcia can handle it," Arum said. "The theory is that Floyd knows more about boxing than anyone and they will be fine without Roger there. You'd rather not have to do it that way, but what other choice do you have?"

More punishment: First, the Nevada Athletic Commission punished trainer Roger Mayweather -- a $200,000 fine and a one-year license revocation -- for his role in sparking the melee during the 10th round of the April 8 Mayweather-Judah fight.

The commission followed that action this week by filing complaints against Zab Judah, his father and trainer Yoel Judah, and Mayweather cornerman Ellerbe for their roles in the near-riot inside the Thomas & Mack Center.

Roger Mayweather ignited the dangerous situation when he entered the ring with five seconds remaining in the 10th round because he was angry after Zab Judah delivered a crushing low blow and a punch to the back his nephew's head.

The Judahs and Ellerbe subsequently entered the ring and were involved in the mayhem.

Zab Judah, whose $1 million purse is still being held by the commission, faces questions about the blow to the back of the head -- which appeared to be blatant -- as well as accusations that he shoved two commission inspectors during the melee and punched Ellerbe in the back of the head during the brawl.

Yoel Judah is being investigated for throwing the first punch of the brawl, a shot at Roger Mayweather.

Ellerbe will be questioned for his entrance into the ring, although he didn't appear to fight with anyone in the ring.

Marc Ratner, the outgoing executive director of the commission, said the three men face possible suspensions, fines or a combination of punishments. The five-person panel will make the decision at a hearing tentatively scheduled for May 8, Ratner said.

Ratner said that Zab Judah could be in particular hot water because the complaint against him also takes into account his previous $75,000 fine and six-month suspension for his outburst at referee Jay Nady following his TKO loss to Kostya Tszyu in 2001.

Also this week, Roger Mayweather hired an attorney to seek a reduction in the penalty assessed to him, even though at his hearing he said he would accept whatever punishment the commission doled out.

Pacquiao-Morales III update: Arum said that Erik Morales has agreed to meet Manny Pacquiao at the junior lightweight limit of 130 pounds rather than continue to insist on 132 pounds for the fall rubber match.

Morales, who has struggled to make weight, outpointed Pacquiao in March 2005 but was knocked out in the rematch in January. After picking up his contractual option for a third fight, Morales said he wanted it at 132 pounds, which Pacquiao refused to do.

Faced with the prospect of losing the fight, Morales relented and agreed to 130, Arum said.

Arum said Morales will work with trainer Tiburcio Garcia, who has had success bringing Jose Luis Castillo down in weight. After Castillo abruptly fired him during training camp for last fall's rematch with Diego Corrales, Castillo failed to make weight.

"Erik talked to Garcia about working with him for the fight because he has the knack for safely bringing fighters in on weight," Arum said. "They think Erik can make weight and be strong for the fight."

The fight, however, will not take place on the original target date of Sept. 16 at UNLV's outdoor football stadium. Instead, Arum said, it will take place either in October or November at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"The only reason we thought about doing it at the football stadium is because Thomas & Mack was taken," he said. "The casinos [Caesars and Wynn] would love to do it on Sept. 16 [Mexican Independence Day], but they reconsidered because they don't want to schlep their customers to 40 minutes away to Sam Boyd Stadium."

Tarver-Hopkins undercard: Organizers are close to finalizing the HBO PPV undercard for the June 10 Antonio Tarver-Bernard Hopkins light heavyweight championship fight.

	Vazquez

Expected to fight on the card at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., is junior featherweight champ Israel Vazquez against former junior bantamweight titlist Ivan "Choko" Hernandez (22-1-1, 13 KOs), who lost his title to Fernando Montiel last year and has won once since then as a junior featherweight. Hernandez is scheduled to fight Friday night in Mexico and must win the bout to land the title fight.

Former bantamweight champ Wayne McCullough was discussed as an opponent for Vazquez but ultimately passed over because he has lost three of his last four fights and taken such massive punishment in recent fights.

Vazquez (39-3, 28 KOs), recently stripped by the IBF for not fighting questionable mandatory Steve Molitor, holds another sanctioning organization title as well as the Ring championship.

In addition, Golden Boy plans to showcase lightweight Jorge Paez Jr., the son of former champ Jorge Paez. Golden Boy is close to completing a deal to become Paez's co-promoter with Sycuan Ringside Promotions.

When it is done, Paez Jr. will also be added to the May 6 Oscar De La Hoya-Ricardo Mayorga HBO PPV undercard.

Promoters Golden Boy and Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing are trying to put together a card strong enough to counteract fierce competition from Top Rank, which has a six-bout pay-per-view card the same night headlined by junior welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto vs. Paulie Malignaggi.

DeGuardia is responsible for the fourth fight on the telecast, but so far has not delivered his fight. There was talk that he would match his heavyweight prospect, Kevin Johnson, against long faded Ray Mercer, but that was quickly shot down by Golden Boy and HBO PPV.

IBF rampage continues: The latest casualty of the IBF is junior lightweight champ Marco Antonio Barrera, who was forced to vacate his title or else he would be stripped for not fighting mandatory Manuel Medina (66-14, 31 KOs), who only became mandatory on March 24 with a win in a title eliminator against Javier Alvarez.

	Barrera

Barrera, who is also WBC champion, was set to receive an exception from the IBF to move up in weight to fight IBF lightweight title holder Jesus Chavez on March 25 before an injury forced Chavez to cancel the fight. That left Barrera to move his HBO fight to May 20, when he will face exciting featherweight contender Rocky Juarez, who is moving up in weight for the title shot.

Because he didn't want to face Medina -- a highly questionable No. 1 contender -- and because there was no chance that HBO would consider buying a Barrera-Medina bout, Barrera becomes the fifth (out of a total of 17) IBF champion to either be stripped of his title or forced to vacate in the past two weeks, a stunning total even in the case of the onerous IBF.

The others to either be stripped or forced to vacate: cruiserweight champ O'Neil Bell, junior welterweight champ Ricky Hatton and junior featherweight champ Vazquez -- all unified champions and holders of the Ring magazine title, emblematic of the "real" champion in each division -- as well as Mayweather, the widely regarded best fighter in the sport.

To fill the vacancy Barrera has left behind, Medina, of Mexico, will face former junior lightweight titlist Yodsanan "3K-Battery" Nanthachai of Thailand on May 31 (ESPN2). With Nanthachai facing Medina for the vacant belt, his elimination bout with Robbie Peden is off.

Molitor is expected to face Sergio Medina to fill the Vazquez vacancy.

	Calzaghe

Calzaghe plans: Super middleweight champ Joe Calzaghe (41-0, 31 KOs) plans to return to the ring July 8 in his first fight since disposing of Jeff Lacy in their March unification fight. Although no opponent has been set -- nor has any American TV coverage -- Calzaghe said he won't be facing Roy Jones Jr., the former pound-for-pound king with whom there had been discussions.

"Jones has been knocked out in two of his last three fights, so, of course, I'm not looking to fight him the way I used to," Calzaghe said. "I don't think that fight is going to happen because my promoter, Frank Warren, was speaking to Jones' people the other day and I think Jones has just basically priced himself out, asking for too much money. He's been knocked out a couple of times now and if I knock him out, then people will say, 'Big deal, he's an old man.' Or, if all of a sudden Roy Jones has a good fight, then I'm gonna get slagged off for that. I'd rather fight a good fighter in his prime rather than a good fighter that's on the slide."

Calzaghe also downplayed rumors that he was set to face "The Contender" participant Peter Manfredo Jr.

"Peter Manfredo is just one of the fighters that we've taken a look at on the list of who was available to fight," Calzaghe said. "For obvious reasons, we'd prefer to fight an American. If you asked me about Manfredo six months ago, I probably would have laughed, but at the end of the day, he's stepped up and had a good win over [Scott] Pemberton and got himself ranked, so he's a possibility."

"BAD" crew set: HBO made official on Friday one of the worst-kept secrets in boxing, formally announcing its broadcasting crew for the revamped "Boxing After Dark" series.

Handling the announcing duties for the monthly late-night cards will be blow-by-blow man Fran Charles and analysts Max Kellerman and former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis.

The trio will make its debut as a team April 29 when "BAD" is relaunched (10:15 p.m. ET/PT) with a card headlined by Acelino "Popo" Freitas facing Zahir Raheem for a vacant lightweight belt at the Foxwoods resort in Connecticut.

"We're excited to create a new broadcast team that will be exclusive to the 'Boxing After Dark' series," executive producer Rick Bernstein said. "With Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and Emanuel Steward firmly established on the flagship 'World Championship Boxing' series, as well as our HBO Pay-Per-View events, the opportunity and need for a second team of announcers arose. Fran and Max are experienced pros with well-defined roles, while Lennox will provide viewers insights that only a former boxing champion can offer."

Charles, 37, who for the past five years has served as a studio host on USA Network's golf coverage, used to work for HBO as the blow-by-blow announcer for the since-canceled "KO Nation" series. Charles will remain with USA Network in addition to calling fights for HBO.

Kellerman, 32, has been working on HBO PPV events and has a wealth of experience from his previous role as studio co-host of ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights" and as an analyst on Fox Sports Net's boxing shows.

Lewis, 40, will serve as the series' expert commentator. He retired as heavyweight champion in 2004.

Stallone honored: Actor Sylvester Stallone, who created and starred in the "Rocky" series of boxing movies -- a sixth one is scheduled for release in December -- will receive an unprecedented honor from the Boxing Writers Association of America.

He will receive the first BWAA award for lifetime cinematic achievement in boxing at the organization's 81st annual Awards Dinner May 5 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Stallone will be presented with a specially commissioned piece from renowned Philadelphia sculptor Carl LeVotch.

"People accept Rocky Balboa as authentic," Stallone said. "I can't tell you how many people have come up to me and asked about my boxing career. It's like they really want to believe that Rocky exists. You know, I'm amazed by all of this. At one time I thought people would get over [their fascination with the character] and move on. Didn't happen. After 30 years, Rocky has taken hold to a degree I never could have imagined."

Numerous current and former champions will be in attendance at the formal affair, which is open to the public.

Quick hits

INSTANT CLASSIC
Relive the incredible Kermit Cintron-David Estrada fight Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN Classic.

• Welterweight contender Kermit Cintron's riveting battle with David Estrada, which ended with Cintron scoring a 10th-round TKO on this week's ESPN2 "Wednesday Night Fights," was so good that for the first time ESPN Classic has declared a boxing match an "instant classic." ESPN Classic will replay the bout Tuesday night at 9 ET.

• Due to the NBA playoff schedule, ESPN2 has moved the time of its April 28 edition of "Friday Night Fights" from 9:30 ET to 8 ET. The card is headlined by heavyweight contender Samuel Peter vs. Julius Long.

• Main Events is continuing its series of untelevised cards from Schuetzen Park in North Bergen, N.J. The cards feature some of Main Events top prospects and the third edition of the series is no different. Headlining the May 11 card is 22-year-old featherweight prospect Jason Litzau (17-0, 15 KOs), who will face Debind Thapa (20-5-1, 11 KOs), who has fought mainly at junior featherweight and bantamweight. Litzau is coming off his most impressive performance, a sixth-round TKO of former title challenger Carlos Contreras in January on the Arturo Gatti-Thomas Damgaard undercard.

• DaVarryl Williamson (22-4, 18 KOs), who is coming off a decision loss to Byrd in October in a fight hailed my many as one of the worst heavyweight title fights in history, is returning to the ring. He'll face Mike Mollo (15-0, 9 KOs) on Don King's May 6 undercard headlined by junior middleweight titlist Alejandro "Terra" Garcia vs. Jose Antonio Rivera in Worcester, Mass.

Williamson had surgery on his elbow after the Byrd fight and blamed the injury for his miserable performance. "I feel fantastic," Williamson said. "This is the best my arm has felt in quite some time, the right hand is back, it feels like it did when I first laced on a pair of gloves. Anyone who thinks that I am done, shot or got old overnight is in for a very rude awakening. The right hand that got me this far in my career will be back come May 6, and I will return to my fan-friendly, all-action powerful style."

• As expected, promoter DeGuardia's Star Boxing has signed junior welterweight "Mighty" Mike Arnaoutis (17-0-2, 9 KOs), a native of Greece who is based in Atlantic City, N.J.

"Mike Arnaoutis is one of the most exciting young fighters in the world and he now has the support to step up to the highest level," DeGuardia said in announcing the signing. "Being in a state which boasts half a million Greek descendants, 'Mighty' Mike and Cestus Management will feel right at home with Star Boxing. We are looking forward to working with Cestus and bringing 'Mighty' Mike Arnaoutis to the championship of the world."

Arnaoutis' first bout with Star Boxing is expected to be a match with former titlist Vivian Harris, which will headline on HBO's July 29 "Boxing After Dark" card.

• Promoter Lou DiBella's popular "Broadway Boxing" series has a new television home. After airing on MSG Network for the past couple of years, the monthly cards featuring top New York City talent is moving to SportsNet New York, the TV home of the New York Mets that launched March 16. The big difference for DiBella -- besides more money -- is that SportsNet New York will air the series in a regular time slot, in prime time on the second Sunday following the live event. MSG bounced the series all over the schedule. The broadcast lineup will also have a new look. Joining longtime regulars Steve Farhood and Brian Adams will be new blow-by-blow announcer Bob Papa, the former blow-by-blow man for ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights."

• Former two-time lightweight champ Stevie Johnston (39-3, 18 KOs), now a top 10 junior welterweight contender, has had to pull out of a May 26 ESPN2 fight against Herman Ngoudjo. In a March 31 victory, Johnston hurt his left hand and suffered a cut under his right eye from an accidental head butt, and it required 11 stitches. The injuries haven't healed in time, so he can't be ready for the bout.

• Promoter Cedric Kushner has announced that he is launching a new promotional company, Gotham Boxing, and will stage the first show May 24 at the Manhattan Center in New York. Heavyweight Shannon Briggs will headline the card against an opponent to be named.

	Mayorga

Quotable: "I have been sparring with live chickens as they emulate 'Chicken' De La Hoya best. They run just like he does. Most people don't understand that of all the fighters in boxing, Oscar is the one I like least. He's a pretty boy and it makes me want to defeat him."
-- Junior middleweight titlist and notorious trash-talker Ricardo Mayorga at his media day in Miami this week on his May 6 opponent, Oscar De La Hoya

Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.