It would seem the odds are stacked against Chris Byrd.

He is fighting a man who beat him easily in their first meeting, and he’ll be in a hostile setting where the crowd will clearly be against him. But Byrd doesn’t think any of that will matter when he defends the IBF heavyweight championship tomorrow against Wladimir Klitschko in Mannheim, Germany.

The fight will be shown live on HBO at 5 p.m. EDT and replayed at 10 p.m.

Byrd (39-2-1, 20 KOs) is the longest reigning champion in the division, having held the IBF title for more than three years. But his last defeat came in October 2000 when he lost a unanimous decision to Klitschko in Kolnarena, Germany. Byrd was dropped in the ninth and the 11th rounds of that fight for the WBO title, but insists he’s a much different boxer now having gone 8-0-1 since then.

“I am more confident in my ability to fight bigger guys and I’m defending the belt,” said Byrd, who is six inches shorter and 25 pounds lighter than the 6-6, 240-pound Klitschko. “I don’t care if Wladimir beat me five years ago and we fought the next day after he beat me, I would still feel I’m going to win. I just want to prove that I am the best guy out there.”

Klitschko, who held the WBO title from 2000 to 2003, is coming off a 12-round decision over previously unbeaten Samuel Peter last September in Atlantic City. Some thought Klitschko’s career was finished after he lost his title to Corrie Sanders in 2003 and ran out of steam against Lamon Brewster in 2004. But he has won three straight fights and is downplaying having the home-ring advantage against Byrd.

“I think Chris Byrd is a much wiser man and a lot more experienced,” said Klitschko (45-3, 40 KOs). “You cannot buy experience; you have to get it through the years. For me, criticism is a great motivation. Failure is not an option.”