Thread: Joe Mesi vs Vassily Jirov Underrated Heavyweight Classic.

Thought this was one of the best Heavyweight fights of the decade, never see this mentioned. Joe Mesi dominates the fight for the first 8 rounds, then gets knocked down 3 times in the last 2 rounds barely hanging up to edge out a razor thin close decision.

Say what you will of 'Baby' Joe Mesi, but he was an entertaining fighter. He was well on his way to a WBA title shot when he was injured & forced to retire. The fight between him and Monte Barrett was solid too. Mesi was never a world beater, but he was a fun fighter to watch. I still wished he and Guinn got the chance to fight, they were on a collision course before Guinn lost to Barrett, then Lyakhovich, then Thompson and was finished as a contender.

Yes Mesi was a good honest what was the reason for retirement? Head injury? Heard he is a politician.

Originally Posted by Master

Yes Mesi was a good honest what was the reason for retirement? Head injury? Heard he is a politician.

Brain bleed after/caused by the Jirov fight

Originally Posted by El Kabong

Originally Posted by Master

Yes Mesi was a good honest what was the reason for retirement? Head injury? Heard he is a politician.

Brain bleed after/caused by the Jirov fight

So is he a republican now?

Originally Posted by Master

Originally Posted by El Kabong

Originally Posted by Master

Yes Mesi was a good honest what was the reason for retirement? Head injury? Heard he is a politician.

Brain bleed after/caused by the Jirov fight

So is he a republican now?

Nope, Democrat

Love watching jirov fights....

The Norris fight was a great fight too, toney fight was amazing.

Originally Posted by El Kabong

Originally Posted by Master

Yes Mesi was a good honest what was the reason for retirement? Head injury? Heard he is a politician.

Brain bleed after/caused by the Jirov fight

It seemed like after the rabbit punch knockdown, Joe Mesi was totally done for. That punch seemed to effect him badly and was probably the cause of the injuries.

Originally Posted by ICB

It seemed like after the rabbit punch knockdown, Joe Mesi was totally done for. That punch seemed to effect him badly and was probably the cause of the injuries.

Yup, and also Jirov was completely finished after this fight as well. He went 5(3 KO)-1-1, getting KO'd by an ancient Michael Moorer directly after the loss to Mesi.

Nice scrap yeh. Never gravitated to Mesi as a fan and thought Barret def beat him and never thought Jirov belonged at hvy at all. I think alot of his damage also came from the go with Monte. Mesi had alot of moxie and was brought up like I wish more yng hvys were. A number of soft touches but a few 'name' war horses in there and battering Izon on the big stage soon after. He did very well with the tool he had, not to mention a pretty sharp mind and personality.

Originally Posted by Spicoli

Nice scrap yeh. Never gravitated to Mesi as a fan and thought Barret def beat him and never thought Jirov belonged at hvy at all. I think alot of his damage also came from the go with Monte. Mesi had alot of moxie and was brought up like I wish more yng hvys were. A number of soft touches but a few 'name' war horses in there and battering Izon on the big stage soon after. He did very well with the tool he had, not to mention a pretty sharp mind and personality.

Agreed...though I felt he nicked it vs Barrett.

Mesi hit his peak...it's sad he never got a title shot but even vs Valuev it would have been tough for him to win. I think a fight vs Ruiz would have been solid too. I think Mesi-Golota would have been a solid fight as well, also Mesi-Byrd or Mesi-McCline.

Mesi impressed me, he was well spoken and knew boxing top to bottom. Was sure he would get into announcing or calling fights. What is he doing? Never mind, he's into New York politics.
.

Originally Posted by beenKOed

Mesi impressed me, he was well spoken and knew boxing top to bottom. Was sure he would get into announcing or calling fights. What is he doing?

Good question, last I heard was the running for office of some sort. He was on Espn quite a few times talking about push to get his license back as well as in studio guest. Yeh, he was top notch calling action.

Lyle you got me thinking. If a Golota or giant like McCline had the mentality of a Mesi, they may have mad much more noise, in a good way. Some guys have a taste for the fire and some don't I guess.

I saw jirov workout between the Mesi and Moorer fights.

Originally Posted by Spicoli

Nice scrap yeh. Never gravitated to Mesi as a fan and thought Barret def beat him and never thought Jirov belonged at hvy at all. I think alot of his damage also came from the go with Monte. Mesi had alot of moxie and was brought up like I wish more yng hvys were. A number of soft touches but a few 'name' war horses in there and battering Izon on the big stage soon after. He did very well with the tool he had, not to mention a pretty sharp mind and personality.

Agreed on both counts. Barret won that fight no doubt. He upset the apple cart against Mesi and Dominick Guinn as far as I'm concerned.

I got a kick out of Michael Moorer KO'n Jirov as this time he played the part of the fat aging former HW champion, except because the fight was essentially meaningless to the division nobody gave a shit