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MESI SAYS HE'S TRIM, HEALTHY FOR RING RETURN AFTER TWO-YEAR LAYOFF

By David Staba

Plenty of people will be worried about Joe Mesi's life when he faces Ron Bellamy on Saturday in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, the first time in boxing history that a fighter has been knowingly permitted to fight after suffering a subdural hematoma.

Mesi, however, isn't one of them.

"It's exactly a week away and I feel wonderful," the unbeaten Tonawanda native said in a telephone interview from Puerto Rico. "I couldn't be happier with the way things have gone in training, with the way I feel and look."

His last bout, against former cruiserweight champion Vassiliy Jirov in Las Vegas on March 13, 2004, ended with Mesi's hand raised for the 29th straight time as a professional. He paid a terrible price, though, to maintain that perfect record.

A punch to the back of the head dropped Mesi to the canvas late in the ninth round of a fight he was dominating to that point. He got up, but his equilibrium was gone. For the next four minutes, he absorbed a horrific beating, hitting the canvas twice more and rising each time.

The big lead Mesi piled up over the first eight rounds was enough to keep him ahead on the judges' scorecards. The punishment he'd taken, though, caused bleeding on at least two spots on his brain. When that information became public, he was suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission, a ban that had to be honored by every other state under federal law.

The commission shot down Mesi's appeal, but in December, a Nevada judge ruled that a fighter can't be suspended for longer than his license is in effect. Since Mesi's license expired at the end of 2004, the judge decided he couldn't be kept on the suspended list and was free to apply for a license anywhere in the United States.

In February, Puerto Rico granted Mesi a license and sanctioned the April 1 date against Bellamy, a 41-year-old journeyman who began boxing at age 35 and turned pro two years later.

Not everyone in boxing is thrilled with his return.

"If Mesi is seriously hurt in a future bout, there's no doubt boxing will be badly damaged along with him," wrote Nigel Collins, editor-in-chief of "Ring" magazine, widely considered the sport's most credible media outlet, in its May issue. "But what's got me even more worried is the precedent Mesi will set if he fights and does not experience further head injuries."

Collins cited Stephan Johnson as a cautionary tale. The junior middleweight contender suffered a brutal knockout by Fitz Vanderpool in April 1999 in Toronto and was suspended by Ontario's athletic commission. The ban didn't carry over to the United States, though, and the Brooklyn native fought three times in the next eight months.

On Nov. 11, 1999, Johnson absorbed a seemingly ineffectual combination from Paul Vaden and went down in the 10th round of their 12-round bout. He hit his head on the bottom ring rope on the way down and was rushed to the hospital, where tests revealed a massive subdural hematoma. He died 15 days later.

"If Mesi fights again and somehow escapes unscathed, you can bet that every fighter who suffers a similar injury in the future and wants to keep fighting will invoke Mesi's name. And you thought George Foreman winning the heavyweight title at age 45 was the excuse for a lot of stupid behavior," Collins wrote, referring to the spate of comebacks by middle-aged never-wases after Big George's 1994 triumph against Michael Moorer.

Dr. Margaret Goodman, who was Nevada's chief ringside physician until her resignation in December over concerns about the state's boxing safety measures, wrote in even stronger terms in the same issue of "Ring."

"It is my firm belief that Mesi has demonstrated a predisposition to further cerebral hemorrhages," she wrote. "It is rare enough for a fighter to have one, let alone two on the same night. I hope I am incorrect."

Mesi, along with his lawyers and doctors, has argued that she is. Dr. Robert Cantu, a prominent Massachusetts neurologist, testified at Mesi's appeal hearing in Nevada that his injuries were tiny ruptured blood vessels, not the massive injuries of the type that killed Johnson, that they had completely healed by late May 2004 and that he is no more likely to suffer another hematoma than any other fighter.

For Mesi, the first test in his comeback has been seeing how his head and body hold up after the extended layoff. He said he hasn't experienced so much as a headache since resuming sparring.

"I honestly haven't felt a thing, not any kind of pain in my entire body," Mesi said. "Nothing at all."

Aside from the obvious questions about the brain injuries, there have also been doubts about how quickly he could shed extra weight packed on during the layoff, as well as whether his skills will remain as sharp at 32 as they were at 30, when he was ranked as the top contender in the heavyweight division by the World Boxing Council.

Again, Mesi said, so far, so good. He expects to weigh about 237 pounds against Bellamy, 10 pounds more than against Jirov but at least 50 less than his top weight during the suspension. He weighed 237 for his bout against Monte Barrett in December 2003.

The boxing end of things hasn't been a problem either, he said.

"Ninety percent of it came right back to me," he said. "I was eager to get back to work. Even at a heavy weight, I move very well, so that was always there. As far as my actual technique, there were a couple of things I was rusty with and I need more time with. But I haven't lost a step with anything."

The most basic element of any boxer's game -- the ability to deliver damaging punches -- hasn't gone anywhere.

"My hand speed and punching power is still as explosive as it was," said Mesi, whose 29 wins include 25 by knockout. "My foot speed is still good for a big man. You'll see the differences, but it's still the same old me."

He shouldn't need to be back at full capacity to dispose of Bellamy. The former college basketball player, who also played professionally in Europe, opened his boxing career with four draws, then ran off 14 wins in 15 fights, but has dropped three straight since March 2005.

Bellamy's athleticisim and size -- he's listed as between 6-foot-5 and 6-foot-7 by different sources and weighed 257 pounds for his third-round knockout loss to Brandon Cabell last August -- present more of a challenge than his rather crude boxing skills.

"I don't know what expect," Mesi said. "I know he's a big guy, and an imposing, strong fellow. He's got an inexperienced style, maybe a style that could make an opponent look bad."

Mesi said he's not concerned with scoring a quick stoppage, getting in enough rounds to work off two years worth of ring rust, or anything else besides maintaining his unbeaten record.

"I'm not going in to look good, I'm just going into protect my 'zero,'" he said.

The bout, to be held at the Coliseo Mario Morales, will be televised live in Puerto Rico, but not the United States. The fight can be seen on the Internet on April 11 in a pay-per-view Webcast, with Mesi scheduled to provide commentary on his own performance. The webcast carries a $5.95 price, with a portion of the proceeds going to Baby Joe Mesi's Fight for Organ Donation, Inc. Details are available at babyjoemesi.com and webcastfundraiser.com.

On the same night as Mesi's return, Lamon Brewster defends one of the four heavyweight title belts issued by the sport's little-respected sanctioning bodies against Serguei Lyakhovich in Cleveland. Mesi said he was at an autograph session in Puerto Rico during the March 18 World Boxing Council title bout between Hasim Rahman and James Toney, which ended in a draw. He said he was energized by what he saw during the fight, which featured a lot of action but no knockdowns and no clear-cut winner.

"It's inspiring and encouraging to me to know that I'm right there at the level of these guys, and that I'm needed in the heavyweight division because I'm exciting and what's going on right now is not very exciting," Mesi said.


Eight boxers from Casal's Boxing Club advanced to the New York State Golden Gloves Finals during last weekend's Western New York Box-Offs in Irving.

Anthony Casal was named the outstanding boxer in Friday night's action after stopping Jamal Tyson in the second round of their 152-pound men's open bout.

National Native American Heavy weight Champion Roy Burns won a decision over Excell Holmes of Buffalo in the heavyweight final, while John Harless topped Johnny Davis of the Niagara PAL in the super heavyweight division. Joey Trusello earned a walkover at 132 pounds to reach the state finals, set for April 7 and 8 at the Pepsi Center on the New York State Fairgrounds. In the senior women's open division, Katey Wakenmann walks over to the state final.

In the Junior Olympic division, 15-year-old Josh Perez stopped Lackawanna's Bobby Gloser in the third round at 112 pounds, while 16-year-old Rudy Lebron took a 5-0 decision over Mitchell Khothsymdorg of Rochester at 119 pounds and Tim Mallory beat Anthony Brown of Buffalo in the 178-pound class.

Niagara Falls Reporter www.niagarafallsreporter.com March 28 2006