10.03.04 – By Marc Abrams: On March, 13th the biggest fight of the 1st quarter of the year takes place at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas as “Sugar”Shane Mosely puts of his WBA and WBC 154 pound titles on the line against IBF 154 pound champ Ronald “Winky”Wright. This bout had been dubbed “The War at 154”. There is an exciting undercard bout that features “Baby” Joe Mesi, taking his show out west as he battles former Cruiserweight king Vassily Jirov in a heavyweight special attraction.
The 32 year old Pomona, California resident, Mosely had been near or at the top of the pound for pound rankings for the better part of the last 7 years. A world champ in 3 weight divisions, 1st won the IBF lightweight title in August, 1997 with a unanimous decision over Phillip Holiday. He defended the title 8 times including victories over former world champs John-John Molina in may, 1998 (TKO 8). and Jesse James Leija in November of that same year (TKO 9). After vacating that belt to move up to welterweright( he skipped 140 pounds all together). He knocked out both Wilfredo Rivera(TKO 10), and Willy Wise(TKO 3) as a prelude to the biggest fight of his career. On June 17, 2000 Mosely defeated long time rival Oscar De La Hoya to win the WBC Welterweight belt in a exciting split decision. To date that is the defining moment as he is the only man to clearly beat the Golden Boy. After 3 easy defenses against Antonio Diaz, Shannen Taylor. And Adrian Stone. All stoppages, he got into the ring with his amateur nemesis, that being Vernon Forrest.
Almost everything that was buit up for the 1st 30 plus fights was almost all taken away but the lopsided decision that Mosely was defeated by. In the 2nd round Mosely was sent to the canvas for the 1st time in his career and was never in the fight. 6 months later in the rematch Forrest won a sloppier yet closer decision. There were 2 questions after that fight. Was it just that Forrest had his number or had Mosely peeked. Neither question was answered when Mosely moved up to 154 pounds to fight Raul Marquez. In the 3rd round a headbutt caused Marquez to bleed and it was ruled a no contest. The just last September, 13 a bout billed correctly as “Redemption” Where Mosely could redeem that high praise on the pound for pound lists or Oscar De La Hoya could redeem himself for the earlier loss to “Sugar”Shane. This fight was not as good as the 1st fight but Mosely came on late to score a very razor thin unanimous decision over the “Golden Boy”. Mosely brings a record of 39-2, 35 KO’s, that includes a record 14-2(11,)in championship fights over 3 weight classes.
Wright, 32, the IBF champ, has longed for a fight of this magnitude for the last few years. The reason he has had trouble getting these type of fights is due mostly due to his southpaw stance. He 1st lost his bid for the WBA Light Middleweight belt all the way back in August 1994. He lost that fight to Julio Cesar Vasquez by unanimous decision. After 9 consecutive victories he won the WBO Light Middleweight crown with a split decision victory over Bronko Mckart in McKart’s hometown of Monroe, Michigan. Wright made 3 defenses of that crown before dropping a controversial from African Harry Simon. 2 fights later Wright challenged and lost a very controversial majority decision to Fernando Vargas. After that setback, the St. Petersburg native won a unanimous decision again McKart for the 2nd time. 2 fights later he won the IBF title with a unanimous decision over Robert Frazier. Wright has made 4 defenses of the belt including a 3rd victory over McKart via the DQ route. His last fight was last November where he won a very unimpressive victory over Angel Hernandez. Wright has a record of 46-3(25) that includes a record of 5-3(1) in title fights.
This shapes up to be a fight of contrasting styles. Mosely, the lightning quick superstar and Wright, the tricky southpaw. Both fighters will be real cautious early not wanting to make a crucial mistake. Wright has tried to sit down more on his punches in his lat few fights. Although being the naturally bigger man, Wright doesn’t possess the same type of boxing skills and Mosely just may be the most versatile fighters that he has stood across the ring from. I think Mosely will pound out a tough decision victory over Wright to set up a fall mega fight against the returning Felix”Tito” Trinadad.
The 30 year old upstart Mesi, is becoming one the more intriguing fighters on the planet. Skeptics don’t know what to make of him yes as he really hasn’t fought a the stiffest of competition until his last bout. The man known as Buffalo’s 3rd franchise has racked a perfect 28-0 record with 25 KO’s. Some of those Knockouts where over fighters passed their prime such as Bert Cooper, David Izon, and Robert Davis. He has stepped it up the last 2 fights. 2 fights ago it was DeVarryl Willamson, who Mesi, knocked out in the 1st minute of the fight. His last fight was this past December in Madison Square Garden in which he won a very close Majority decision over Monte Barrett.
Jirov, 29, from Pheonix by way of Kazakhstan was 1996 Olympic most outstanding boxer. He is making his maiden voyage into the heavyweight division. Jirov is the former IBF Cruiserweight champion. He won the title in June, 1999 with a 7th round knockout of Arthur Williams. He made 6 defenses of the belt with the most impressive win coming over Julian Letterlough(TKO 8)in September, 2001. He lost the belt last March when James Toney won a unanimous decision in a great fight. Since the loss to Toney, Jirov has racked up 2 easy knockout wins with the last one bein over Joseph Kiwanuka in November. Jirov sports a record of 33-1(29).
This has the makings of a great fight as both fighters are considered punchers. Mesi being the natural heavyweight, will probably out weigh Jirov by 25 pounds. Jirov will test Mesi with some of the best body work in the game today. Both men should be easy to find but I think the weight will be a big factor, plus the war that Jirov was in with Toney may have some lasting affects in this fight as Mesi scores an exciting middle round knockout. If Mesi should win I wood like to see him in with the winner of the March 27 bout between Dominick Guinn and Monte Barrett.