sacramento kings arena
Chad Dawson gets a New Opponent
World Boxing Council No. 1-ranked mandatory challenger Adrian “The Shark” Diaconu, scheduled to fight for a title against WBC lightweight champion “Bad” Chad Dawson at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, suffered a training injury on Thursday forcing him to pull out of the Sept. 29 match.
Dangerous light heavyweight knockout artist Epifanio Mendoza (28-4-1, 24 KOs), from Barranquilla, Colombia, has agreed to replace Diaconu and will face Dawson in the Sept. 29 main event.
“This is a dream come true to have the opportunity to fight Chad Dawson for the WBC light heavyweight title,” an obviously enthused Mendoza said after flying into promoter Don King’s Deerfield Beach, Fla., headquarters to sign the match contract this afternoon [Sept. 18]. “I have fought in and won numerous national and continental championships but this will be my first world title fight. I plan on taking the title back to Colombia.”
Fight promoter Don King likened the event to a Rocky movie, but this time it’s for real.
