Joey Dawejko: I’m Going to Hurt You
Before sliding into the ring with an opponent, it’s common, and even expected, for fighters to expect to be victorious. However, there are some battles that cause boxers to have a little extra bit of zeal. This is what appears to be the case for Joey “Tank” Dawejko (20-7-4, 11 KO’s) ahead of his March 7 dust-up with the undefeated Frank Sanchez (14-0, 11 KO’s).
Looking at only their records and physical dimensions, you would think that Tank would approach the match-up with a bit more reservation. Sanchez stands at 6’4 with a 78” inch reach whereas Dawejko tops off at 5’10 with a 70” inch reach.
However, nothing could be further from the truth! Instead of giving the native Philly fighter any pause, Dawejko actually thinks that Sanchez is rather small compared to who he has faced in the past. In fact, Tank was so confident in his ability to snuff Sanchez that he openly promised to do him significant damage once they slip through the ropes.
“What I said to him? I said, ‘man I am going to hurt you!’ He’s too small for me, man that’s crazy, he’s too small for me. That’s what it is, I felt that, I knew standing in front of him I felt that he is too small for me…even height, I’m used to fighting guys bigger than him, so we’ll see what happens. I’m excited though!”
ELUSIVE BIG FIGHTS
While it’s certainly apparent that Dawejko is brimming over with confidence in regards to his fight on Saturday, this moxie is not reserved exclusively for Sanchez. As he told Fight Hype Dawejko has been itching for a major bout for some time. Unfortunately for him, despite making himself available for some of those bigger events, even though they came close, they have never gotten over the hump.
“Who knows what happened man. I had three agreed bouts with [Murat] Gassiev and they all fell through, so I don’t know. And I had another agreed fight with [Oleksandr] Usyk and that feel through, they wound up taking Chazz Witherspoon instead. I don’t know man, it’s just the boxing, it’s the game you know what I mean, its the business.”
“…listen, whoever is willing to fight me after I knockout Frank Sanchez, its going to take some balls!”
“…Absolutely, man this is what I am doing this for, I need fights like that. I want fights like that, I want to fight Deontay Wilder, I want to fight Tyson Fury, I want to fight Luis Ortiz, I want to fight all those guys, Anthony Joshua, you know what I mean, I want to fight those guys. I think eventually I am going to deserve to fight them guys!”
GATEWAY FIGHT
While he certainly has his eyes and mind on bigger bouts down the line, Dawejko firmly understands that he must get past Sanchez first. Without a win on March 7, all those other major marquee fights will go up in smoke. This is precisely why Tank has put so much effort into his current training camp.
“And I got a little buzz around me too, only because people are really like into the Joshua situation and looking into who I am. So I’m going to have a lot of people watching and that’s great. I’m going to prove myself.”
“…Keep watching me, this is going to be a big fight for me. I’m taking it as the biggest fight of my career, I trained like it was the biggest fight of my career. So I’m ready to go, just keep watching out for me.”
With all the tough talk, it will certainly be interesting to see how this fight unfolds on the canvas! Dawejko has definitely given himself a high standard to live up too!
By: Bakari Simpson
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