Ready to rumble: Tacony native Joey Dawejko will fight Amir Mansour in a 10-round heavyweight boxing match on May 8 in South Philadelphia. PHOTO COURTESY OF FACEBOOK
Tacony native Joey “The Tank” Dawejko will fight Amir “Hardcore” Mansour in a 10-round heavyweight boxing match on Friday, May 8, at the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia.
The fight will be televised on ESPN 2, and the vacant Pennsylvania heavyweight title will be up for grabs.
Back on March 6, Dawejko needed just 27 seconds to knock out Enobong Umohette at 2300 Arena. A left hook sent Umohette face first to the canvas. Mansour was the color analyst for the bout, which was shown on Comcast SportsNet.
Dawejko, 24, who had a great amateur career before turning pro in 2009, is 14–3–2 with seven knockouts. He’s won six in a row, including four consecutive first-round knockouts.
Mansour, a 42-year-old southpaw from Wilmington, Delaware, is 21–1 with 16 KOs. He’s a former USBA heavyweight champ. He last fought on Nov. 8, 2014, when he knocked out Fred Kassi. Sports Illustrated called it the “Knockout of the Year.”
Mansour is predicting a knockout of Dawejko.
“I’m gonna smash this kid,” he said. “He doesn’t have the power or the skill level or the warrior’s mentality to go the full 10 rounds with me. I’m not going to leave it in the hands of the judges; I’m going to leave it in the hands of the paramedics.”
Dawejko is equally confident.
“I can’t wait to step into the ring May 8 in my national TV debut,” he said. “It’s going to be an explosive night. I’m going to steamroll Mansour, ’cause I’m the tank.”
In all, there will be seven bouts.
The undercard will include a middleweight bout between DeCarlo Perez, of Atlantic City, and Jessie Nicklow, of Baltimore.
Doors open at 6 p.m. The fights start at 7. ESPN 2 will go on the air at 9.
Tickets cost $55 and $80. Contact Peltz Boxing at 215–765–0922 or www.peltzboxing.com, or the Wanamaker Entertainment Group at 215–568–2400 or www.wanatix.com
Peltz Boxing, Joe Hand Promotions and BAM Boxing are the promoters. ••
