Former champ will fight Klitschko next month. Ex-heavyweight champ Hasim Rahman has agreed to step in as Wladimir Klitschko’s opponent after Alexander Povetkin tore a foot ligament. The Dec. 13 bout will afford Rahman a seven-figure paycheck. “We’re very excited about the fight,” says his manager Steve Nelson. “It’s a super opportunity for Rock to become a three-time champion. We know we’re up against the odds.” Rahman last fought James Toney in a bout that ended after an accidental head butt.

Stephon Marbury’s shaky relationship with his NBA team continues, despite new coaching. The Knicks guard, who clashed with ex-coach Isiah Thomas last season, hasn’t played in three games and isn’t even on the team’s active list. Coach Mike D’Antoni reportedly wants to waive Marbury, who recovered from surgery last season and was eager to take the court. “We may be engaging the team in trying to see if there’s some kind of mutually beneficial position that the parties can arrive at,” Billy Hunter, who heads the NBA players union, tells Bloomberg News. Marbury reportedly met with Knicks president Donnie Walsh this week, with no resolution.

Nation of Islam leader’s son led champ

A former manager of boxing legend Muhammad Ali has died at age 79, following recent open-heart surgery in Chicago. Jabir Herbert Muhammad, son of former Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad, led a controversial career in the Nation and overseeing Ali’s boxing accomplishments from 1966 to 1981. Herbert Muhammad was among those who broke ranks with former Nation of Islam spokesman Malcolm X, who heavily recruited Ali to join the Nation and, at one point, offered to deliver the boxer, then known as Cassius Clay, into the Nation. Herbert Muhammad and much of the nation took little interest in Ali until after he’d defeated Sonny Liston for the heavyweight title, which Malcolm X had predicted. Herbert Muhammad soon took over Ali’s direction, but the relationship soured when they entered legal battles years later. Herbert Muhammad claimed the two eventually resolved their differences.