Making weight is often the most difficult task for a boxer, not the fight in the ring. But Jeff Lacy, who meets Joe Calzaghe on March 4 in the biggest super middleweight fight in more than a decade, has a different problem with his weight.

Lacy is working so hard in preparation for Calzaghe that he feared he had lost weight too quickly. He got down to 174 pounds, just six above the 168-pound division limit, and slowed down his road work because he wanted to be more gradual in his weight loss.

"I am working so hard for this because this isn't just a single fight, it's my career," said the power-punching Lacy, who is 21-0 with 17 knockouts. "Everything I've done, going to the Olympics, winning a world title, defending it, that's all a warm-up. I look at this fight with Calzaghe as the start of my career.

"And so I'm putting the work in to make sure that there are zero excuses. I slowed down the running a little bit because the weight was just coming off so fast."

The fight, which Showtime will televise live from Manchester, England, will create a new star in boxing.

Lacy has an engaging personality and a crowd-pleasing style, but he hasn't faced an opponent who was in his league as a puncher.

Calzaghe, who is 40-0 and has held the WBO title since 1997, might not be Lacy's equal as a puncher because few are, but he is also one of boxing's top knockout artists.

But because he rarely ventures far from the comforts of home and has fought just twice out of Great Britain and never outside of Europe, he's not particularly known to American boxing fans.

But the winner of the fight on March 4, which will come in front of a raucous pro-Calzaghe crowd, will be the most prominent super middleweight champion since Roy Jones Jr. in 1994.

"You have to win the fights that matter and this is the fight that matters most, definitely to me and if you asked Calzaghe, I'm sure he'd say to him as well," Lacy said. "You think of Evander Holyfield, how great he was, he did it by winning the fights that matter.

"I'm not going over there to lose. I'm going over to tell the world that, 'Hey, Left Hook is the man in this division.' It's a statement fight and I'm ready to make a statement."

He hasn't spent much time watching films of Calzaghe, though he said he is never much of a film watcher.

He prefers to leave that to trainer Dan Birmingham and then follow the plan that Birmingham devises.

"Everybody is starting to realize know how good Dan is and I have a ton of confidence that he's going to give me the right plan," Lacy said. "My job is to execute. I take nothing away from Calzaghe, because how can you knock a guy who is undefeated and had a belt for as long as he has?

"But I don't believe he's ever faced anyone as strong as me and as determined as me and as well-prepared as I'm going to be that night."

* READY FOR SUB -- Jose Luis Castillo was preparing for his third fight with Diego Corrales on Saturday when Corrales injured a rib and had to pull out.

Corrales was replaced by Rolando Reyes for the fight that will be broadcast by Showtime.

Castillo, who said he hopes Corrales is sufficiently healed to have an April 1 fight, said he won't underestimate Reyes even though he doesn't expect nearly as tough of a fight as he would have gotten from Corrales.

"I think it will be a hard and difficult fight because of Reyes' boxing style, but I do not expect a tough fight like I had before (with Corrales)," Castillo said.

* PPV HOME RUN -- Manny Pacquiao's 10th round stoppage of Erik Morales in their Jan. 21 super featherweight bout at the Thomas & Mack Center exceeded pay-per-view expectations.

HBO Pay-Per-View reported the bout sold 350,000 units. Top Rank believes it could reach 370,000 once all precincts have reported their sales.

* CASTILLO ON MORALES -- Morales said he can no longer make the 130-pound weight limit and that if he fights again, it will be as a lightweight.

But Castillo, who has been one of the world's premier lightweights for five years, doubts Morales is big enough for the division.

Morales began as a super bantamweight.

"I think he is too small for 135," Castillo said of his close friend. "He would really be giving a lot of advantage to bigger fighters. I think he should think about it and think about staying at 130 if he really wants to continue fighting."

* WELCOME HOME -- Pacquiao was greeted by President Gloria Arroyo when he returned to his native Philippines after stopping Morales.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that 5,000 police officers were deployed throughout Manila for crowd control. It reported that Pacquiao was personally guarded by 12 officers upon his 4:30 a.m. arrival.

* ROY TO SHOWTIME? -- Jones, who was fired as HBO's ringside analyst earlier this month, met with Showtime officials in New York last week, ESPN.com reported, with the intent of discussing a two-fight deal.

ESPN.com reported that Jones is now represented by Atlanta attorney Jim Thomas, who was Holyfield's long time attorney/adviser.

* PRETTY BOY ON MARGARITO -- Top Rank chairman Bob Arum has repeatedly called Floyd Mayweather Jr. the best fighter in the world.

But Arum has also claimed that Mayweather is ducking WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito.

Arum claims Mayweather turned down $6 million to fight Margarito.

Mayweather, who fights former welterweight champion Zab Judah on April 8 at the Thomas & Mack, denies that.

"That's just a Bob Arum thing," Mayweather said. "I have no problems fighting Margarito. None. But the fans aren't demanding that fight. Bob Arum is just trying to build (Margarito) up at my expense.

"Nobody knows the guy. And who has he beaten?"

Margarito fights Manuel Gomez at the Aladdin on Feb. 18.

* TIDBITS -- Las Vegan Chris Byrd, who holds the IBF heavyweight title, is on the verge of a settlement with promoter Don King that will allow for an April 22 title defense in Germany against Wladimir Klitschko. ... Light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver, who is still filming "Rocky Balboa," might fight former cruiserweight champ Vassiliy Jirov once he's done with the movie. ... IBF/WBA super lightweight champion Ricky Hatton hired Artie Pelullo as his American promoter. Hatton plans to fight for the first time in the United States in May. ...

WBC super lightweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera made it official last week. He'll move up to lightweight to challenge IBF champion Jesus Chavez on March 25 at the MGM Grand. If he is successful, Barrera will become the first Mexican fighter to win world titles in four weight classes. ... King is trying to arrange a rematch between light heavyweights Tomasz Adamek and Paul Briggs, which was one of the best bouts of 2005.