The following are post-fight quotes from this weekend's clash between WBC light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson and challenger Epifanio Mendoza.
JOSEPH AGBEKO
"I am the man. I believed I could be a World Champion and no one was going to stop me from my dream. I think I can do more than what I did. "You got to fight the best to be the best. I have a IBF title. I think we can unify this title."I've seen Luis Perez' fights and I knew he was going to throw his big shots early. I gave it back to him tonight. "I dominated him. If the referee didn't stop it, I would have stopped him."
KENDRICK GARCIA, Perez' manager
"Perez was willing to continue. He is very upset with the doctor's decision. Agbeko is a strong puncher, but Perez was doing a great job of absorbing the hits. He doesn't agree with the doctor's decision to stop the fight. Like I said, he is very upset because he felt he could continue.""We will ask for a rematch because Perez knows he could have finished the fight."
DR. SMITH KETCHUM, Ringside physician
"I examined him the round before and his pupils responded slowly which caused me concern. After the 7th round, I rechecked his pupils in the corner and they reacted more slowly. That combined with the multiple head blows I saw him taking caused me to stop the fight." (On the advice of ringside physican Ketchum, referee Dan Stell halted the bout after the seventh round. Perez was taken after the fight to UC Davis Medical Center for observation)
CHAD DAWSON
"I did what I was supposed to do. I did my job. I got him out of here. I executed. It would have been the same fight with Diaconu. He would have gotten the same thing."It is an honor. I work hard. I put in the work. The work shows. Eddie (Mustafa) said this fight shouldn't go more than five rounds. I didn't look for it. "I was looking for the one big punch, but I knew the body shots would slow him down. "I will do this to anyone, I am the best in the world. I have been fighting since I was eight years old. My success in the ring is for my entire family. I am not in the ring for myself. I have 5 brothers, two wonderful sisters. It affects them too. They call me before the fights. I am fighting for them as well as myself. "A dream fight…I would want Tarver. If he takes the fight, he does, if he doesn't he doesn't. I've got nothing to prove."
EDDIE MUSTAFA (Chad Dawson's new trainer)
"Chad stepped up like I wanted him to. He double-jabbed and he triple-jabbed. He gave me perfect head movement, defense. This kid is really something and a force to be reckoned with."
EPIFANIO MENDOZA
"Chad is a great fighter. He is tough to hit. It just wasn't my day today."I feel fine right now. I am not hurt, just a little overwhelmed with how fast he was."I'll have another fight. This fight was taken on short notice and I think with a little more preparation I would have been able to give a better performance."
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