10.03.04 – By Jim Amato: While most of the focus this Saturday night will be on the Shane Mosley-Winky Wright fight, mine will be on the co-feature. Mainly it will be on the up and coming heavyweight Baby Joe Mesi. Joe will be taking on ex-cruiserweight champion Vassily Jirov. It should be a good measuring stick to see where Mesi stands among todays big men.
Jirov lost to James Toney last year but probably gained more fans in that losing effort then he did in all of his previous wins. Jirov is a strong southpaw who is always throwing punches as he comes forward. He will set a tremendous pace. How do I see this fight going?
Quite simply I see Mesi winning by KO, maybe early. Jirov likes to go to the body and he has a tendency of leaning in with his hands down. I just see Mesi countering somewhere down the line with a big left hook and that will be the end of it.
So let’s say Mesi does win and he wins impressively, what’s next ? Will a kayo win over Jirov move Mesi into the top ten? More then likely it will. The heavyweights are a sad bunch these days and with Lewis gone, there is a mad scramble to find a new hero. Joe Mesi is the best hyped and best marketed heavyweight since Gerry Cooney. What I question is, can Mesi really fight with the elite?
In my opinion, I say that Joe won’t be able to beat the top shelf contenders. The Joe Mesi scenario unfolding today takes me back to the late 60’s. There was a rugged heavyweight who fought out of Seattle named Boone Kirkman. His wily old manager Jack Hurley did an outstanding job moving Boone up the ladder. Boone was worshipped in Seattle the way Mesi is in Buffalo, like God.
Well finally Boone came east to fight a young George Foreman and guess what ? He was destroyed in two rounds. Boone came back with a few wins. He even beat an aging Jimmy Ellis but one sided kayo losses to Ken Norton and Ron Lyle finished him as a serious threat.
I see a lot of Boone Kirkman in Joe Mesi. I see it in looks, in style and in hype. Soon I see it all crashing down for Joe. I hope I’m wrong. He seems like a great kid.