26.01.04 – HBO Sports confirmed to promoter Gary Shaw today that undefeated heavyweight BABY JOE MESI has been added as the co-feature to “UNDISPUTED: THE WAR AT 154!” the historic world championship fight between WBC/WBA super welterweight champion SUGAR SHANE MOSLEY and IBF jr. middleweight champion WINKY WRIGHT, to determine the first-ever undisputed champion in the 154-pound division.
The card, promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, LLC., and Pound for Pound Promotions, in association with Square Ring, Inc. and Budweiser, is scheduled for Saturday, March 13, at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Both fights will be televised live nationally on HBO, beginning at 9:30 P.M. ET / 6:30 P.M. PT.
Mesi’s opponent will be announced shortly.
Tickets for this exciting evening of boxing are priced at $600, $400, $200, $100 and $50, and are now on sale at the Mandalay Bay Theatre Box Office and all TicketMaster outlets. To order tickets by phone, call (702) 632-7580.
Mesi, 28-0 (25 KOs), hails from Buffalo, NY and is currently world-rated No. 4 by the World Boxing Council. Beginning in 2002, Mesi has faced a roster of experienced opponents with impressive records. The combined records of the seven opponents he has rumbled against is 175-18-3 – a winning percentage exceeding 89%!!! Highlight fights include knockout victories over David Izon, 27-4; Robert Davis, 28-5, for the NABF title; and DaVarryl Williamson, 18-1. Mesi’s six-year, 18-bout victory-by-KO streak came to an end in his last fight against Monte Barrett, 29-2. Mesi and Barrett exchanged knockdowns in a spirited fight that saw Baby Joe win via a majority decision in his Madison Square Garden debut.
The main event will pit Mosley, a three-time world champion in as many different weight classes, against Wright, who is in the third year of his second reign as a junior middleweight champion. The last time the 154-pound division had an undisputed world champion was when Koichi Wajima reclaimed the title from Oscar Albarado via a 15-round decision, January 21, 1975, before the IBF was established, in Tokyo, Japan. Since then, the title has been splintered with only Terry Norris, Felix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya and now Mosley ever holding two of the three belts simultaneously.