‘King’ Williams steps in for main event at Coeur d’Alene Casino

The poster boy is out – long live the King.

The Coeur d’Alene Casino fight card tonight will be without cruiserweight Shawn Hawk, who had been scheduled to fight Gary Gomez in the main event. He was replaced this week by casino regular “King” Arthur Williams.

Hawk, 21, featured in the casino’s television advertisements as well as tonight’s fight poster, was fired by the casino last Friday, promoter Moe Smith said Thursday at the weigh-in for tonight’s card.

“The casino had to fire him,” said Smith, who doubled as Hawk’s trainer. “I just tell people it was ‘personal reasons,’ I hated to see it come to this. He has the most talent of any fighter I’ve ever had.”

Hawk, 10-0, previously fought at the Coeur d’Alene Casino three times and was featured on an ESPN card last year. He is considered a fast-rising star in the 200-pound, cruiserweight division.

Williams, a Las Vegas native, is a four-time champion, losing the North American Boxing Federation’s cruiserweight crown Oct. 27 to Felix “Bad News” Cora in a House of Fury main event. Williams formerly held the USBA cruiserweight crown twice and is a former IBF world champion.

Williams, 41, brings a 41-14-1 record in 56 professional fights, including 29 knockouts, into tonight’s main event.

Gomez, from Butte, Mont., brings a 14-5-0 record with five knockouts into the main event

Also on tonight’s card is Spokane cruiserweight Luke Munsen (17-4-0, 12 knockouts) after a layoff of almost a year. Munsen, 25, from Mead, last fought Feb. 4 at Ocean Shores, Wash., losing to Tim Shocks on a seventh-round technical knockout. His last bout at the Coeur d’Alene Casino was Nov. 4, 2004, when he scored a second-round knockout of Peter O’Kane.

Munsen takes on Great Falls, Mont., cruiserweight Eric Swensen, making his professional debut. Munsen is scheduled to battle Kenny Keene on Feb. 3 in Boise.

Sandpoint welterweight Favio Medina (8-1-2) takes on Portland’s Donny Fosmire (10-10, six knockouts) tonight and is scheduled to fight Eddie Bishop at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn., on Feb. 18.

On other bouts, Newman Lake heavyweight Skyler Anderson (1-1 with a knockout), a 19-year-old left-hander, takes on Channing Demontiny (1-0 with a knockout), from Great Falls. Nespelem light heavyweight Billy Drywater returns after making an impressive professional debut in October, taking on Everett’s Wayne Tyler (2-3) in his second professional fight. Heavyweight Eric Boose (5-0-1), from Puyallup, Wash., takes on Richard Martinez of Great Falls in the latter’s professional debut.

The card begins at 7 p.m.