Former super featherweight champion Joel Casamayor frequently has been accused of using his head as a battering ram in the ring.

Casamayor acknowledged using his head -- his wits, that is -- to land a rubber match against WBC lightweight champion Diego Corrales, a Showtime bout planned for Oct. 7 at Mandalay Bay.

During an interview with ESPN2 after he stopped Lamont Pearson on July 7, Casamayor chided Corrales for being afraid of him and ducking a third fight.

An angry Corrales quickly accepted the bout when promoter Gary Shaw presented it.

"You have to do whatever you can when a guy is afraid, and I just used my head," Casamayor said.

But Corrales claimed Casamayor (33-3-1, 21 knockouts) used his head as a weapon in their first two fights, saying the 35-year-old Casamayor is "without question" the dirtiest fighter he has faced.

"I know I'm going to be cut because of his head," Corrales said. "You have to be prepared for that going in because he's real good at it and he doesn't hesitate."

Casamayor was in no mood to debate the topic.

He pointed out he has floored Corrales three times in the 18 rounds they have fought and said he doled out much more punishment. Casamayor won their first fight by sixth-round technical knockout in October 2003, and Corrales took a 12-round split decision in March 2004.

Casamayor accused the 29-year-old Corrales (40-3, 33 KOs) of being a whiner and said he shouldn't have become a boxer if he didn't want to be hit.

"He tries to say he's a fighter, but maybe he's really a ballerina, the way he acts," Casamayor said. "I could hit him with my butt if he wants. What's the matter with him? Is he not a man? He talks a lot, but he doesn't back it up. He looks to get someone else to fight his battles."

• NO SUGARCOATING -- Main Events matchmaker Carl Moretti didn't mince words as he discussed welterweight prospect Joel Julio's future.

Julio, a heavily hyped prospect, was badly outboxed in a 12-round decision loss to Carlos Quintana on June 24 at Caesars Palace.

Moretti said he wants to bring Julio (27-1, 24 KOs) back in October but he's not sure of an opponent.

He said he doesn't know if Julio simply was not as good as he appeared or whether he faced the wrong style on the wrong night.

"I've gone back and forth on this," Moretti said. "The hype was based upon his knockouts, so many of which were spectacular. But he didn't have a lot of great quality opposition. You look at those knockouts and the way he just hurt guys and you saw something special.

"But you also have to look at who he was fighting. It wasn't terrible, and there were a couple of decent opponents, but they were fights he should have won."

Moretti said Julio will fight on Spanish-language network Telemundo when he returns.

"It will either be against a bum or a Cosme Rivera type of guy," Moretti said.

Rivera is a veteran trial horse with a 30-9-2 record and 21 knockouts but has lost to the best fighters he has faced.

• LIAKHOVICH-BRIGGS? -- Heavyweight contender Shannon Briggs agreed to terms for a Nov. 11 fight with IBF champion Wladimir Klitschko not long after he won the title in April from Las Vegan Chris Byrd.

But neither man signed the deal, as Klitschko adviser Shelly Finkel wanted to wait to see who won the Aug. 12 WBC title bout between Las Vegan Hasim Rahman and Oleg Maskaev. Maskaev won by a 12th-round stoppage, and Finkel offered him the bout.

As Maskaev was considering whether he could be ready in time after a physical bout with Rahman, Briggs got tired of waiting.

He now is negotiating with promoter Don King for a shot at WBO heavyweight champion Sergei Liakhovich. If that fight happens, it probably will be Nov. 4 on Showtime.

If Maskaev doesn't take the fight with Klitschko, the bout will go to unbeaten Calvin Brock.

• TIDBITS -- Top Rank's biweekly show on OLN will return to the Orleans Arena on Sept. 14. The main event will be a lightweight match between Almazbek Raiymkulov and Jairo Ramirez. ... Jorge Arce, the interim WBC flyweight champion, will move up to junior bantamweight Sept. 23 on HBO to face Hawk Makepula. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will fight on the undercard. ... An intriguing fight that was scheduled for Saturday has been moved to Sept. 23 in Germany. IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham, who withdrew because of the flu, will defend his title against hard-hitting Edison Miranda.