How far would Joe Mesi have gone?

[Beanflicker]

All hypothetical obviously, but how far would Mesi have gone had he not suffered a brain injury in the Jirov fight?

How would he have done against guys like...

The Klitschkos
Holyfield
James Toney
Sam Peter

ect circa 2004-2008 or so?

[El Kabong]

I think 'Baby Joe' had a great career although it's sad it got cut a little short. 36 (29 KO)-0-0 is a pretty good record. Sure he didn't fight many of the "big names" but he won and won all the time. I think he could have been on track to win the WBA title which during his time was in the hands of Ruiz, Holyfield, Valuev, and Chagaev. Fights vs Ruiz and Valuev may have been best for him, because as a pressure fighter and slugger he would have his work cut out for him vs a guy like Chagaev or a guy like Holyfield.

There was a time where he could have troubled Wladimir with his power, but that was a small window and it got nailed firmly shut after Wlad beat Sam Peter.

Joe Mesi could have been in some great brawls and hell he was in some solid brawls but smaller heavyweights like Ibragimov, Chagaev, James Toney, Brian Minto, Vinnie Maddalone, etc would have been very solid fights for Joe...Adamek, Cunningham, guys like that.

'Baby' Joe's style wouldn't have lasted, but I think with his heart he would have been a live dog in most fights because he's the kind of guy who doesn't quit easily.

[El Kabong]

Mesi did fight 7 more times after the Jirov fight...he never got a shot at the belt though which is a shame

[p4pking]

I don't think he would've gone on to do a whole lot, and it's pretty likely that whatever underlying brain issues he had would've come to the table whether he'd fought Jirov or not, he's probably lucky he never fought a bigger puncher on that level. I thought Monte Barrett also could've easily got the nod against him if I remember well enough, either way Mesi was in serious trouble at the end of that fight. For me he wouldn't have even beaten Sam Peter, Toney would just have beat the shit out of him and either Klitschko would've scored a big KO and possibly killed him in hindsight.

[NuthaPug]

Saw him fight Williamson in 2003 and though he won well, I walked away concerned about some of the shots he had taken. After he fought Jirov, the remainder of his fights were against a very different league of fighter than those mentioned in this thread. At places like county fairs.

He had a lot going - good looking, well-spoken, community-oriented and a talented, dedicated boxer with quite a punch. Loves the sport. Good dude.

But even without his injury, there is no doubt that his future as a boxer would not have been as bright as had his past. There would have been some more wins, but not against the top tier. He'd have bumped up and down in the lower top 10 and then become a gatekeeper for a while.

[Violent Demise]

He would of got demolished by the Klitschko's.

[greynotsoold]

The guy was selling 15,000 tickets for his fights in Buffalo. Good draw.

[Master]

mesi was no better than Joe hipp just better managed.

[bigstinkybug]

*Mesi was an OK fighter..the best thing that ever happened to him was that he not fight Wlad, Lennox or Vitali... at least now , he can always argue that he couldve beaten them, and being undefeated.. at least it would be in question.

[Master]

*Mesi was an OK fighter..the best thing that ever happened to him was that he not fight Wlad, Lennox or Vitali... at least now , he can always argue that he couldve beaten them, and being undefeated.. at least it would be in question.

Povetkin could argue that as well for the moment.

[p4pking]

*Mesi was an OK fighter..the best thing that ever happened to him was that he not fight Wlad, Lennox or Vitali... at least now , he can always argue that he couldve beaten them, and being undefeated.. at least it would be in question.

Povetkin could argue that as well for the moment.

I don't buy that at all. Neither guy is going to be in the dicussion of beating anyone elite, since they haven't proven capable of it and had glaring weaknesses in spite of never losing. It's one thing to protect a 0 after you've risen to be a dominant fighter, being undefeated without ever facing a top threat is worthless.

I think comparing Povetkin and Mesi as things stand is quite fair though, they both have a couple of "wins" that basically take all the stock out of being undefeated. I really thought Povetkin was pretty good until he fought Eddie Chambers, not to mention almost losing to Marco Huck. He''s a pile of shit and Wlad will pole axe him.

[Hulk]

Mesi was a pretty good heavyweight, but not really world class or title challenger material.

Monte Barret beat him in my book for sure.

Mesi had some good wins though, his 1 round KO of Davarryl Williamson was probably his most impressive.

I thought "Touch of Sleep" was a bum based off that fight, but then he fought Chris Byrd for 12 rounds and had ol Wlad in serious trouble before he got his mojo back and started hidin that chin better.

[Master]

Who would win Mesi or Povetkin?

[IamInuit]

I think 'Baby Joe' had a great career although it's sad it got cut a little short. 36 (29 KO)-0-0 is a pretty good record. Sure he didn't fight many of the "big names" but he won and won all the time. I think he could have been on track to win the WBA title which during his time was in the hands of Ruiz, Holyfield, Valuev, and Chagaev. Fights vs Ruiz and Valuev may have been best for him, because as a pressure fighter and slugger he would have his work cut out for him vs a guy like Chagaev or a guy like Holyfield.

There was a time where he could have troubled Wladimir with his power, but that was a small window and it got nailed firmly shut after Wlad beat Sam Peter.

Joe Mesi could have been in some great brawls and hell he was in some solid brawls but smaller heavyweights like Ibragimov, Chagaev, James Toney, Brian Minto, Vinnie Maddalone, etc would have been very solid fights for Joe...Adamek, Cunningham, guys like that.

'Baby' Joe's style wouldn't have lasted, but I think with his heart he would have been a live dog in most fights because he's the kind of guy who doesn't quit easily.

Totally agree with everything said here. If anything he was an overachiever and would have pre injury competed with the contenders today. For example I think he would walk over Mitchell. I really enjoyed his fights. He reminded me a lot of Chuvalo in the ring with a little more boxing savvy. Like Chuvalo he was and is a class act outside the ring also.

[El Kabong]

Yeah Chuvalo or Jerry Quarry, maybe even Scott Ledoux. Baby Joe was tenacious, but he was a bit small, not ever in extremely great shape (if he was it would have helped him tremendously because he did fade late in fights) but he was a good fighter and fun fighter to watch. I think with his power he could have put a scare in Tyson Fury and maybe dropped him.

Joe could punch now...I don't think he gets much credit for how hard he actually hit, but he could bang pretty good.

There was a time when Taylor vs Lacy and Mesi vs Guinn were the fights on a lot of American boxing fans minds....shame all of those guys really went down hill quick. That HBO B.A.D special with the 3 heavyweight fights: Mesi vs Williamson, Guinn vs Dokiwari, Peter vs Farley.....that was a GREAT night of fights very solid