10.03.04 – By Keith Terceira: At 28-0 with 25 knockouts to his credit, Joe Mesi over the last year has sky-rocketed up the rankings. Skeptics in the press have jumped at every word that the Mesi team has said or supposedly said. With the Barrett fight behind him and some lessons learned, Joe Mesi is more than prepared for his next opponent this week , Vassily Jirov. “Baby” Joe discussed with us the battle with Monte Barrett , some of his thoughts on the heavyweight division, and his pending test Saturday against “The Tiger.” Jirov may be currently the best cruiserweight in the world but Joe Mesi agrees that Vassily at two hundred pounds has the punch of a heavyweight.
Keith: Joe, I went back over your record a few years and was wondering, will Jirov be the first southpaw you have fought?
Joe Mesi: I fought one southpaw my second or third fight and as an amateur I fought two or three, I am not real experienced when it comes to the Southpaw stance, but this training camp I got to spend eight weeks out of town and I got very comfortable with it.
Keith: Did Barrett changing stance to southpaw come into play when choosing the bout with Jirov?
Joe Mesi: No, not at all. I was unprepared for him to switch, but with eight weeks preparation I can prepare for anybody or anything.
Keith: Joe can you tell me anything specific that you came away from the Barrett fight with that you worked on in camp?
Joe Mesi: Gee, how about just to train. You know the Barrett fight; I am embarrassed to say, sadly, it is probably the first fight in my amateur career or professional career that I came unprepared. I had an accident; I was cut over the eye. I didn’t spar the last three weeks, I didn’t run the last three weeks, we didn’t know if we were going to take the fight. We decided the week of the fight, let’s go to New York. We’ll get the stitches out, we’ll take it, and I was ten pounds overweight. I was just not mentally prepared either. I thought that I was going to go in there and get a first round knockout like I did the two previous fights. I was a little over confident against a good fighter.
Of course Monte deserves a lot of credit because he came prepared and it was the best he ever looked. Monte deserves a lot of credit. So I am kind of embarrassed about that fight because I just wasn’t ready. I was going at a great run for six and a half rounds then all of a sudden I just ran out of gas.
Again I have been out of town eight weeks and I am fully prepared and when I am fully prepared there is no excuse. I will be able to handle Jirov successfully.
Keith: Does that mean that you will have some surprises for us Saturday night?
Joe Mesi: Yeh, a few surprises. I always have something up my sleeves. Jirov, he is a great fighter and I have a lot of respect for him. He has some good power, very rough, very rugged with a good chin. I think he is a great cruiserweight, but I think he should stay there.
Keith: Jirov has a good body attack.
Joe Mesi: He has a great body attack. But you need more weapons than that. His defense is suspect; he has been hurt by other light heavyweights. He has a lot of positives, he comes in great condition, he throws a lot of punches, but he is lacking some things too.
Keith: Can we take it for granted that you will come in about ten pounds lighter than the 237 for the Barrett fight?
Mesi: My whole career I have been weighing 228, 229 give or take. That’s my weight since I was 22 years old.
Keith: You have the big left hook, with a southpaw are we going to see how big the right hand is?
Mesi: Yeh, everyone says left hook, I don’t know why. I feel my right hand is better than my left. We will see. Jirov says “I think I’m going to box for a little bit”, I’ve never really seen that before (laugh) But I’m ready for anything. Whether its box, put pressure on, I feel very confident that whichever Jirov shows up that we have prepared for him. We have trained for several different styles.
Keith: Do you think that the fan pressure, the media pressure, and the Marciano comparisons threw your game plan off as well with Barrett?
Mesi: No, I am to mentally strong for that. I just wasn’t physically prepared. Never have I compared myself to Marciano, and never will. I never plan on breaking any records. I don’t care about criticism, I only have one thing to prove and that’s to myself. People can say what they want to say. This fight will prove that I’m a better fighter than I was last fight. It’s difficult because it may be a little messy fight; Jirov’s and my styles may conflict a little bit. It may not be the prettiest thing in the world but I can prove myself otherwise.
Keith: Jordan Adair, one of our members, from Deerfield Beach Florida asks this question: “Joe, even though Jirov is considered the best cruiserweight in the world right now, if you are victorious, do you worry that people will downplay the accomplishment because he is the smaller guy?
Mesi: No, I don’t worry about the critics to much in life. Will it happen? It will definitely happen! I think of it as a good logical step, Jirov has been sparring heavyweights for years, he has been claiming to move up to heavyweight for years, I think he has a heavyweight punch. If he comes in at over two hundred pounds he is a heavyweight fighter that could hurt any guy. I think it’s a big win and I don’t care what anyone else thinks, but I’m sure I will be criticized. Believe me with my career I’m under a microscope and am criticized for everything.
Keith: Juliaan Lauwereins from Antwerp, Belgium asks you, “Joe, if given the opportunity who would you prefer to fight?, Ruiz, Byrd, Vitali or Wlad Klitschko.”
Mesi: I like all of them, I sparred with John Ruiz, and feel I could do well with him. Believe it or not I would like to fight Vitali; I see something in him that stylistically I match up well, even though he is a giant and very strong. Wladimir is a little better, I still think. Vitali, I think is going to be the WBC Champ, and with a win here, we could move up in the rankings to two or three, maybe even one, I don’t know. Any one of those guys I feel I’m prepared for.
Keith: Joe Nunnally from Arcadia, Wisconsin asks, “Joe, I read an article a few months back that after the Barrett fight your father was quoted as saying that your camp was considering bringing another trainer in to bolster your corner. Has your team contacted Emmanuel Steward or Freddie Roach?
Mesi: No, No, Never! Our team is intact, the same as always, I can’t speak for my manager or promoter, we are not against any help, anyone coming in with advice or maybe working with one of those guys but at this point we have not done that. We have such a solid team and with fan support, we are unbeatable.
Keith: At what point do you think you might get in the ring with Dominick Guinn?
Mesi: I don’t know…its tough to say, we both are trying to work our way up the rankings, we both are maybe trying to earn a little money, earn some name recognition and reputation for ourselves. It’s inevitable it’s going to happen, but I think we both need a couple of more wins. Kind of like when everyone waited for Tyson and Lewis for years, I don’t think I want to wait that long. It certainly will happen I just don’t know when.
Keith: Would you prefer Guinn over Gomez?
Mesi: I like either one, but I think Guinn is the better fighter, so I want to get in with the better fighter.
Keith: Well, my time is about up, Joe, so I wanted to thank you and wish you luck.
Mesi: Thank you for your time as well.