Amir Mansour vs. Joey Dawejko for Pa. boxing title

AMIR "HARDCORE" MANSOUR has one message for Joey "The Tank" Dawejko ahead of their highly anticipated bout for the Pennsylvania heavyweight title: "You can't come in here with no long beard like that."

Mansour (21-1, 16 KOs) believes that Dawejko's long, bristly beard might affect him in the ring and become dangerous around facial cuts when the two come chin-to-chin.

"In any type of clinch in the ring, a beard can bruise you up, cut you, make the cut deeper, open the cut up," Mansour said. "A beard is a weapon, and this is why every commission in the United States has rules set for beards. They have to be a certain length.

"Trust me, his beard will be shaved down. It ain't got to come off. I'm not going to ask a man to shave his beard off, but you can't come in there with a four- or five-inch beard. It's as simple as that."

Dawejko's beard has been the centerpiece of the hype and build-up surrounding the fight, scheduled for 10 rounds tomorrow night at 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia. Mansour's reasoning and safety concerns are valid, but his 24-year-old opponent - 18 years younger than Mansour, 42 - has a different take.

"He's been trying to get out of this fight since before we signed it," said Dawejko (14-4-2, 7 KOs). "He didn't want to fight me. Obviously, he doesn't want to fight me. He's concerned about me, not the beard."

Dawejko is a different fighter than he was last year. He's a different fighter than he was in early March when he fought Enobong Umohette. And he's certainly a different fighter than when he fought Charles Martin on Nov. 14, 2013 with a week's notice, and without training in a gym because he was busy working on a roofing job to pay the bills.

Immediately after beating Umohette, Dawejko left for California to train for seven weeks.

"I've worked hard," Dawejko said. "I've ran more for this fight than ever. I'm in great shape. I had great sparring, I had great training. I'm just a completely different fighter than from my last fight. And from a year ago, you can't even recognize me."

The 18-year age difference seems significant on the surface, but underneath, well, Mansour seems to be the one with the youthful body.

"You see this, man?" Mansour said, pointing to his six-pack abs. "This right here is the real deal. I was blessed with beautiful genetics. I was blessed with perfect genetics to end up doing what I'm doing . . . I've got two other brothers and they're not built like me."

A clash of generations and styles, this fight could very well end in a knockout. Mansour's speed and aggressive style vs. Dawejko's counterpunch strategy has both sides confident heading into the ring.

"I'm just going to go in there and smash him," Mansour said. "I'm the same weight today that I was when I was 29 years old. I've got my speed where I want it to be. I've always been a hard hitter. My power is never going anywhere. If anything, it increases. I'm just going to use speed, skill, technique, and be a smart fighter."

Dawejko knows Mansour well. He watched Mansour's fights for years, and he knows one thing for certain about his older opponent.

"He's a puncher," he said. "But he has the puncher's curse. Once I touch his chin, it's a wrap. He's not going to be able to handle my speed and power."

The fight will be aired on ESPN2 as one of the final fights in the network's "Friday Night Fights" series, and will be Dawejko's primetime debut.

"It's going to feel great," Dawejko said. "I get to perform in front of my family and friends and in front of the world on TV. It's going to be great. It's my TV debut, so it feels great."