sports mania

Lightweight titleholder David Diaz has signed to defend his title against Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao of the Philippines, said Bob Arum on ESPN.com; "we got his contract [Tuesday]". The HBO PPV fight is slated for June 28, 2008 at Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay. Pacquiao will be gunning for a world title in his fifth weight class. He already has won championships at flyweight, junior featherweight, featherweight and junior lightweight.

The Diaz-Pacquiao televised undercard also is taking shape. Arum said 2004 U.S. Olympian Vanes Martirosyan, a rising junior middleweight prospect, will be on the card, and he already has matched heavyweights Tye Fields and Monte Barrett. Arum said the co-feature might include rising lightweight star Amir Khan of England, a 2004 Olympic silver medalist and 2007 ESPN.com prospect of the year. Khan is a mandatory challenger for unified titlist Nate Campbell but could have eyes on a mega fight with Pacquiao instead. Arum said he and Frank Warren, Khan's promoter, are talking about putting Khan on the card and working their way toward an eventual meeting between the two. "We both like the idea," Arum said.