Zavala Replaces McKinney for Undercard Bout With Decima

Rudy Zavala, unbeaten super-bantamweight from Costa Mesa, will fight former champion Pedro Decima of Argentina Friday on the undercard of the Evander Holyfield-Larry Holmes heavyweight title fight at Caesars Palace.

Zavala (16-0-1) replaces 1988 Olympic gold medalist Kennedy McKinney, who was pulled off the card Monday after skipping three recent training sessions.

McKinney, according to matchmaker Bruce Trampler, skipped one workout last week, then missed workouts Saturday and Monday. McKinney, the bantamweight gold medalist at Seoul, finished a yearlong rehabilitation program for drug abuse last year.

Trampler said McKinney failed to call his trainer, Ken Adams, after any of the recent absences.

Decima (29-3) is a step up in class for Zavala, who has stopped 13 of 15 opponents. Decima knocked out Paul Banke at the Forum in 1990 for the World Boxing Council championship, but lost it in his first defense to Japan’s Kiyoshi Hatanaka.