BOXING McCline faces difficult challenge against heavyweight Klitschko

Wladimir Klitschko is the rising star that some already see as the next great heavyweight.
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Jameel McCline was watching the fights on television with his wife when he first noticed Wladimir Klitschko. At the time, he wasn't sure who he was, but he liked what he saw.
"He just looked like a heavyweight should look," McCline said. "I tapped my wife on the leg and said, 'That's what I want to look like.' "
McCline was then a struggling heavyweight trying to learn his craft at a relatively advanced age. Klitschko was an Olympic gold medalist from the Ukraine who spent most of his time fighting in Germany.
On Thursday they stood next to each other at a weigh-in of giant proportions. On Saturday night they'll fight for the lightly regarded WBO title in a bout with huge implications for both men.
"A lot of guys wouldn't admit that," McCline said of his admiration of Klitschko. "But I'm like a kid in a candy store. I'm just having fun here."
McCline has been having a lot of fun lately, winning his last seven fights to move into the top 10 of all three major sanctioning organizations and get a $1 million payday to fight Klitschko.
Surprises the experts
Klitschko (39-1, 36 knockouts) is the rising star that some already see as the next great heavyweight. McCline is a spoiler of sorts, who keeps winning fights nobody thinks he can win.
McCline (28-2-3, 16 knockouts) knocked out Michael Grant, then beat Lance Whitaker and Shannon Briggs in his last three fights, a string of wins that has gotten him some notice as something other than just a 6-foot-6, 263-pound slugger.
"He's got all the pressure on him," McCline said. "He's expected to do so much. No one expects me to do anything."
The fight has become the main attraction on a card at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino, and will follow the lightweight title rematch between WBC champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Jose Luis Castillo. It will be televised on HBO, beginning at 10 p.m.