LAS VEGAS (AP) - Vitali Klitschko's heavyweight title defense next Saturday against Hasim Rahman is still on despite an injury to the champion that will force him to fight with a knee brace on.


Klitschko was fitted with the brace on his right knee Saturday in Los Angeles and plans to go ahead with a bout that already has been delayed once.


"He'll be on a plane to Las Vegas tomorrow," promoter Bob Arum said.


Arum said he was told about the injury Friday night by Klitschko's handlers, who told him the bout was off. But Arum took Klitschko to orthopedic surgeon Tony Daly, who diagnosed the injury as a sprain and fitted Klitschko with the brace.


"Once he got the brace, he (Klitschko) was sold," Arum said.


Klitschko injured the knee while sparring Thursday in Los Angeles, Arum said. The injury caused him balance problems, which Arum said the brace will prevent.


Klitschko, who hasn't fought since stopping Danny Williams in the first defense of his World Boxing Council title in December, was first supposed to have fought Rahman on April 30. But the fight was postponed when Klitschko pulled a thigh muscle, and attempts to reschedule it earlier fell apart when he suffered a back injury.


Rahman, a former heavyweight boxing champion, grew so tired of waiting for the bout that he took a bout with Monte Barrett in August. He won that bout on a decision to become the WBC interim champion, which meant he would be declared champion if Klitschko didn't fight him.


Klitschko (35-2, 34 knockouts) is getting the biggest purse of his career, $7.8 million (6.54 million), while Rahman (41-5 with one draw and 33 knockouts) will be paid $4.2 million (3.52 million) for the bout at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas campus arena.