Jeff Haney reports on the excitement and odds on third and probably final Castillo-Corrales battle

Monday, May 29, 2006 | 6:59 a.m.

Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo will meet in the ring Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center for the third fight of their highly entertaining lightweight rivalry.

Corrales stopped Castillo in the 10th round in the first bout, one of the best boxing matches in memory, and Castillo recorded a sensational fourth-round knockout in the rematch.

Boxing fans will probably be treated to another exciting show Saturday, but the beginning of this fight week has a different feel to it.

At least at the betting windows.

In stark contrast to the first two fights, the sports betting marketplace has established Castillo as a decided favorite to win the bout.

Castillo is listed as a minus-225 favorite against Corrales, meaning bettors risk $2.25 for each $1 they're trying to win. The price on Corrales at host property Wynn Las Vegas is plus-185, meaning bettors win $1.85 (plus their original stake back) for each $1 risked.

Corrales was a small betting favorite in each of the first two bouts, in the range of minus-130 to minus-150.

Gamblers who like Castillo to win Saturday might consider betting him to win by knockout at odds of 4-5 at the Wynn. That's the equivalent of minus-125, an attractive discount given that the styles of the two men make it unlikely the fight will go the distance.

The round proposition, reflecting the fighters' punching power as well as their propensity to mix it up in the middle of the ring, has been set at over or under 8 1/2 rounds of the scheduled 12.

Regardless of the outcome, it appears the splendid competition will not extend beyond a trilogy.

"That closes it on Castillo," Corrales said in a conference call last week. "I think that once I close the series out, that every time we see each other (afterward), it will be in a cantina or having a cocktail together and celebrating and talking about what we did."

Also noted

the Miami Heat is a favorite of about minus-150 in its NBA Eastern Conference championship series against the Detroit Pistons. Miami opened as a sizable underdog in the series but has won two of the first three games. Miami has covered the point spread in all three games, winning Game 1 outright as a five-point underdog, losing by four points as a 6 1/2-point underdog in Game 2 and easily covering as a three-point favorite in Game 3 Saturday. The Heat is favored by 2 1/2 points in today's Game 4. The winner of the series will meet the winner of the Dallas Mavericks-Phoenix Suns series.