Manfredo admitted at Thursday afternoon's press conference at Twin River that he's currently tipping the scales at 177 pounds and gradually looking to work his way back into the 160-165 range, but in the meantime, he's set his sights on getting down to 171 to take on Benfield (17-1, 9 KOs).

"We wanted to be at 165 for my next fight and gradually go down from there, but we weren't able to find anyone to fight," he said. "And we didnt want to fight a slouch, we wanted to fight someone who can fight."

Benfield, a native of York, S.C., dropped from the unbeaten ranks in his last fight on Sept. 1 against DeAndrey Abron, who convincingly claimed a 12-round unanimous-decision victory to win the vacant NABO (North American Boxing Organization) championship.

Benfield has another title bout lined up -- an April 12 clash in Biloxi, Miss. against Lafarrell Bunteng for the vacant USBO (U.S. Boxing Organization) super middleweight championship -- but before that test obviously comes next month's duel in Lincoln.

Manfredo (28-5, 13 KOs) spent the first four years of his pro career in the junior middleweight circuit and roared out to a 21-0 record that included the NABO title and the No. 3 spot in the WBO (World Boxing Organization) rankings.

When 'The Contender' came calling in the summer of 2004, Manfredo welcomed the challenge and posted a 3-3 record that included a pair of losses to Sergio Mora in 2005, a seven-round unanimous decision in the finals that May and an eight-round split decision in the rematch five months later.

In 2006, Manfredo jumped to the super middleweight ranks and immediately made his presence felt by notching third-round TKOs over New Bedford's Scott "The Sandman" Pemberton and previously-unbeaten Providence rival Joe "The K.O. Kid" Spina.

That helped set the stage for last March's WBO title fight against unbeaten Joe Calzaghe in Wales, but Manfredo absorbed a controversial third-round TKO that many boxing enthusiasts thought was prematurely stopped by referee Terry O'Connor.

Manfredo wasn't hurt at all in that fight, and he returned to the U.S. and quickly returned to work. He posted a ninth-round TKO of Ted Muller last April in the first-ever fight at Twin River and followed that up by scoring a 10-round unanimous decision over David Banks in May.

But in Manfredo's last bout, on Dec. 8 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, he was on the losing end of a 10-round unanimous decision to Jeff "Left Hook" Lacy, bowing by scores of 94-95, 93-96, and 92-97. To Manfredo's defense, he had a bout with strep throat a week before the fight, but Manfredo chose to blame that loss on another reason.

"I wasn't that hungry," he confessed. "When I was getting ready to fight Calzaghe, I trained my butt off for three months for that fight and ... they didn't let me fight. They stopped the fight before it even started, and that kind of hurt me through the whole year. I wasn't really focused for the next couple of fights, and when it came time to fight Lacy, I still didn't have that fire inside of me.

"I think everything happens for a reason. Now I'm hungry again. I lost that hunger for a while, but I'm hungry again, and I want to take a serious run at this because I know I can be the best and become a world champion."

Manfredo decided to return to the middleweight ranks because he decided that he wasn't physically big enough to tangle with some of the super middleweights. In his fight with Pemberton, the 5-foot-9 Manfredo was six inches shorter than his opponent, and in last December's bout, Lacy looked like a defensive lineman standing toe-to-toe with Manfredo.

"I'm fighting these big strong guys at super middleweight and I'm so small compared to them," said Lacy. "Just look at Lacy. He comes down from 220 and you can see the size difference. We're the same height, but he's so wide."

Manfredo's biggest obstacle in his quest to return to 160 pounds won't be losing the extra pounds, but keeping them off.

"It's a tough thing to do," added Manfredo. "But I haven't been serious about it, and if I'm serious, I know I can get it down. I used to make 154 pounds, but I was in the gym two or three times a day. It's a lot tougher now because I have a wife and three kids and you almost have to be home all the time. I'm juggling two different things."

In years past, Manfredo went to California for training camp, but now, he's staying local and getting his work done at his father's gym in Pawtucket under the watchful eye of Peter Manfredo Sr.

"I'm actually feeling really good in the gym," Manfredo noted. "I'm focused and I'm right where I want to be. I can't afford to go away because I'm back to making bananas and I'm not making the money I used to make. But I'm not doing it for the money. I'm doing it because I want to make one serious run and become something. I want to be the best at what I do, and if you're going to be something, you might as well be the best at doing it."