Luis Barragan hears the same story from just about every manager, promoter and booking agent he ever speaks to that he heard from the handlers of Yuriorkis Gamboa.

The story rarely changes. My guy, they say, will fight anyone anywhere at any time and is simply looking for an opportunity.

The truth, though, is usually diametrically opposed to those words. They're almost always looking for the easiest opponent at the most money.

And so, when Barragan, the director of programming at HBO Sports, was approached about Gamboa, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist from Cuba, he expected more of the same.

"Every promoter says their kid will fight anybody, but I rarely believe them," Barragan said, chuckling.

But it's rare that a promoter has a talent like Gamboa. The 26-year-old is 9-0 as a professional, but will headline a show, a "Boxing After Dark" card on HBO Saturday at Buffalo Bill's Casino in Primm, Nev., when he takes on Darling Jimenez.

Barragan was shocked to hear names of experienced and

At a time when boxing can't find a heavyweight coordinated enough to step between the ropes without tripping, mixed martial arts is overrun with quality heavyweights.

Men like Fedor Emelianenko, UFC champion Randy Couture and UFC interim champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira are but a handful of the first-class big men in MMA.

And with Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez and Shane Carwin on the horizon, it's only going to get better.

UFC president Dana White was privately raving about Velasquez, the two-time All-America wrestler from Arizona State, after Velasquez' first-round stoppage of Brad Morris last month at UFC 83 in Montreal.

And he thought so highly of Lesnar, the former WWE champion, that he's bringing a card to Lesnar's home state of Minnesota later this year so that Lesnar can headline.

But when their careers are done, the best of the three may turn out to be Carwin, a hulk of a man who once was a pretty fair NFL prospect.

Now a full-time mechanical engineer who trains MMA in his

LAS VEGAS – Between 2002 and 2006, Chris Byrd held a version of the heavyweight title. During that time, he was variously described as undersized, tiny, diminutive, smallish and pint-sized.

This, despite the fact that he was both taller and heavier than Mike Tyson was during Tyson's prime years.

When Tyson beat Michael Spinks at what was probably the pinnacle of his career in 1988, he packed 218 1/4 pounds onto his 5-foot, 10-inch frame. In his three previous bouts, Tyson weighed in at 215, 216 3/4 and 216.

Byrd, who is 6-1 1/2, weighed 219, 217 1/4, 215 and 215 in his four fights immediately prior to winning the vacant IBF title from Evander Holyfield in 2002. For that bout, Byrd weighed 214.

But in his prime, Tyson had a body that looked like it was carved out of granite. Byrd had a body that, well, looked like it was built by McDonald's.

"I was fat," Byrd said after a recent training session. "That's really what it was. I was just fat."

His problem as a heavyweight wasn't that he

It was an uncomfortably humid March Friday afternoon in Cancun, Mexico. Timothy Bradley stood patiently to the side wearing a track suit, with his jacket zippered, and waited for something he knew wouldn't occur.

Bradley was supposed to fight Jose Luis Castillo the next day for the No. 1 position in the WBC super lightweight rankings. But an hour before he arrived at the scene of the weigh-in, he knew that Castillo would be unable to make weight and that there would be no fight.

All Bradley had to do was make the 140-pound limit and go home. When he calmly removed his jacket and walked to the scales, several veteran boxing reporters exchanged glances.

Bradley looked like he'd prepared to compete in a Mr. Olympia competition and not fight in a boxing match.

He left Cancun not getting to fight and not knowing for sure if the WBC, which is not above a little chicanery now and then, would keep its pledge to allow him to fight for the title held by Junior Witter.

But after only a few days

LAS VEGAS – For many years, Wanderlei Silva was regarded the same way at Zuffa headquarters that Derek Jeter is at Fenway Park.

UFC president Dana White, who for years had been eager to see Chuck Liddell knock Silva unconscious, makes no bones about his feelings toward the man who was the face of the rival PRIDE Fighting Championship.

"He was my enemy," White says unhesitatingly.

No longer is that true, however. Because on any given day, White will saunter downstairs from his office into the tiny gym located in the bowels of UFC headquarters to find Silva preparing for his fight with Keith Jardine at UFC 84 on May 24.

They greet each other with an embrace and a smile and while away the time discussing their mutual passion for mixed martial arts.

Silva is such a fan of the sport, he said he's pleading with White to make a match between middleweight champion Anderson Silva and welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, who currently are ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, on the Yahoo!

It's a sign of the poor state of boxing that not even the combination of television's best storyteller and a network TV deal could substantially improve its situation.

About four years after superstar producer Mark Burnett announced he was creating a boxing reality show that would air on NBC, the sport is no better off than it was on that day in 2004 in Las Vegas.

"The Contender" hasn't forced the fundamental changes to the sport that its creators had hoped, but the idea is a good one that's simply been implemented badly.

The show's three seasons have done excellent in ratings, first on NBC and, subsequently, for two years on ESPN. Executive producer Jeff Wald proudly points out that no show that has been in the same time slot as "The Contender" on NBC has gotten anywhere near the ratings it got.

Similarly, "The Contender" drew good numbers on ESPN, outpacing staples such as NBA and MLB games, Wald said.

But the show's success ends when the cameras go off. Contrary to its name, it

One of the classic symptoms of an aged, or aging, fighter is seeing openings and being unable to take advantage of them.

It's no different than a running back who once could burst through a hole for a 15-yard gain when he ran a 4.4 40, but who now runs a 4.65 and can't hit it quick enough to get more than three yards before the pile collapses upon him.

And what Matt Hughes was describing as a problem in his loss to Georges St. Pierre in December sounded suspiciously like a man losing the battle with time.

But the two-time former UFC welterweight champion, who saved the UFC yet again when he agreed on short notice to fight Thiago Alves in the main event of UFC 85 in London on June 7, insists he's far from through.

He's lost two of three and was dominated in the defeat to St. Pierre at UFC 79 on Dec. 29, but he is undaunted. Hughes plans to make a point with his performance against the fast-rising Alves, who is coming off an impressive stoppage of Karo Parisyan.

Hughes, 34, has been one

The growth of mixed martial arts has largely been fueled by white males between the ages of 18 and 34. They're the staple of the UFC audience on Spike TV, they're the ones who get up early in the morning to watch live cards from Japan on HDNet and they're the ones who plunk down money to buy fights on pay-per-view and on DVD.

But the UFC wants to expand that demographic to include one that has been among boxing's most passionate base.

UFC president Dana White has frequently spoken of bringing a show to Mexico and of developing a Hispanic fan base. And now, according to the Los Angeles Times, the UFC is ready to use the same plan that it did to build its base among the young, white male demographic.

The Times reported Monday that the UFC has begun production of a Spanish-language show, "El Octagono," which will appear on the cable network Galavision and that will include fighter interviews, fight highlights and educational segments.

The show is scheduled to air on Saturday nights for an