Boxing: The new Rocky

WITH ALL the hype and expectation that preceded him into the hallowed ring at Madison Square Garden last Saturday night, it was perhaps inevitable that disappointment and a bruised ego should clamber back out between the ropes and follow heavyweight boxing’s great white hope back to his dressing room.

The 11,000 fight fans who had braved the heavy snow to reach the mecca of boxing saw Joe Mesi (pronounced Macy) dumped on the canvas for the first time in his career only to scrape home against the respectable if not reputable Monte Barrett on a paper-thin majority decision.

It was enough, however, to take Mesi’s record to 28-0 with 25 knockouts and keep him on course for a projected world title fight next year.

Whether Vitali Klitschko will lose any sleep about that is another matter.

The 6ft 8ins Ukrainian followed Mesi and Barrett into the ring on Saturday night for a WBC title eliminator against Canadian Kirk Johnson and promptly dropped the bulky Nova Scotian in the second round to set up a mandatory rematch with Lennox Lewis early in 2004, if the champion decides to pull on his gloves again.

Either way, the Briton’s reign looks set to end given Klitschko’s moral victory against him earlier this year when he led on all three scorecards before the fight was stopped due to a cut above the contender’s eye.

And that creates a vacuum in boxing’s blue riband division that Mesi’s management, his promoters, television executives and a large section of the US media are eager for him to fill.

Kevin Winn, vice president of sports at New York’s Madison Square Garden led the fanfare last week ahead of the Barrett fight, saying of Mesi: “This is a fighter really trying to make his mark in the heavyweight division and there is a great opportunity for him as the division appears to be opening up now for the next great champion to step in.”

Dino Duva, son of the legendary promoter Lou Duva, and co-owner of Duva Boxing, who put together the weekend’s ‘Heavyweight Collision’ show, did his best for last weekend’s ticket sales by proclaiming: “Very simply, he’s the hottest young fighter in the world, any division.

The fact that he’s a heavyweight makes it even better, even more exciting. Everyone’s talking about Joe Mesi, the hottest heavyweight in the world and the most exciting kid to come on the scene in a long, long time.”

A good-looking, well-spoken and clean-cut Italian-American from Buffalo, in upstate New York, he stands 6ft 1ins tall and possesses a 79-inch reach. Although he carries his family nickname ‘Baby’ Joe into his fights, Mesi turned 30 on November 27 and didn’t begin boxing until the age of 21.

That was when he was an overweight college student from the middle-class suburbs of Buffalo, the son of a police detective, his now manager Jack, who worked part-time behind a bar and had ideas of becoming a schoolteacher.

A successful amateur career of 72-8 included wins over Hasim Rahman and saw picked as first reserve in the super-heavyweight division for the 1996 Olympics.

But the pro ranks beckoned and since his first paid fight in November 1997, Mesi had clocked up 27 victories with 25 KOs and was on a run of 18 straight wins inside the distance.

As the momentum has grown along with the impressive record so have comparisons with an Italian American hero, the late, great Rocky Marciano. Mesi says the Rock is his idol and does little to halt comparisons with the heavyweight champion who bowed out of the ring with a 49-0 record.

Indeed, in the build-up to the Barrett fight, Marciano’s brothers, Lou and Peter met with Mesi in front of the media at a press conference in a Little Italy restaurant and were happy to endorse the young pretender.

“If ever there’s a guy who we want to break the record of 49-0, it’s you,” Peter Marciano told Mesi, although Lou brought a little reality to affairs by adding, “I don’t see a comparison yet,” and Lou Duva, a former pal of Rocky’s added a hint of sarcasm when the only similarity he could offer was: “They’re both Italian.”

That may have been harsh. Mesi’s aggression in the ring is certainly comparable. He is a slugger and a warrior in the Marciano mould, unwilling to cede an inch of territory to his opponents. He is, however, two inches taller and around four stones heavier at 237 pounds.

The meeting meant a lot to Mesi though, and he was happy to pose for pictures alongside a cardboard cut-out of his hero.

“The other day I got a chance to meet the Marciano family and they said they were going to be there, front row, supporting me and wanting me to continue to emulate Rocky and hopefully break his record,” Mesi said.

“I don’t know about all that, that’s a long way off, but it’s great to be mentioned in the same sentence as him.

"I’m a huge Marciano fan, I watch a lot of file footage of Marciano and it’s all a huge honour; an honour to meet his family, an honour to be fighting in the Garden, and an honour to have his family supporting me and giving me their best wishes.

"When I started out I never wanted to fill his shoes because he’s one of the greatest. I just wanted to be the best I could be. But now people are starting to make those comparisons it’s very flattering; it’s exciting.”

Mesi is also confident of booking his own place in boxing’s pantheon. “I’m a great fight fan and I’ve looked at all the historical tapes and read all the history and I’m very much looking forward to adding to that.

"I think I can fill those shoes, sure. I think I can be the next contender, someone to help the sport of boxing and be a huge factor in the business.

“I’m a ticket seller no matter where I fight in this country. I’m the biggest ticket seller in the sport that doesn’t hold a world title and I think I am good for the sport so I’m looking forward to becoming heavyweight champion of the world and helping out this sport the best I can.”

Mesi has made the leap from the outside looking in to being the guy everyone wants a pop at.

As he lined up alongside Klitschko, Johnson and Barrett for the final pre-fight press conference, a rival and his promoters gate-crashed the event brandishing balloons and a cake celebrating a newborn boy, mocking his ‘Baby’ Joe nickname and offering him for an anytime, anywhere showdown.

It is something to which Mesi has become accustomed and he is comfortable taking the rough with the smooth.

“It feels good to be one of the best. I’ve worked hard to get to this point and I have more to prove there’s no doubt, but it feels good to be recognised as one of the best and talked about as a possible world title contender in 2004. That’s what I’ve worked so hard for these last few years.

“Yeah, that brings pressure and my pressure is to become world heavyweight champion; I have that pressure every day but I can handle it. All these fighters feel pressure; we all have a goal we’re trying to achieve.”

Where Mesi differs from his contemporaries, however, is his background.

“I think that being the white, middle class heavyweight contender means that people want to believe me aren’t sure they should believe me. They’re a little stand-offish and no matter how many fights I win, they’re going to be a little sceptical and I figure it will always be that way throughout my career.

"People will be on the edge of their seats wanting me to do well but maybe waiting for me to fail. And that’s why it’s maybe more difficult for me when people think I have it easier. I have a lot more to prove.

“I can’t do anything about that. I’m just trying to be the best heavyweight in the world I can be and when I become champion it will be champion of the world, not of one race or of one ethnic background, I’m going to be champion of THE world. All I can do is prove to myself that I belong where I belong.”

Up until the seventh round on Saturday night, the last place Joe Mesi belonged was on the deck. He had put Monte Barrett down himself in the fifth with jolting right hand and had the older boxer wobbling a round later with another shot from his right.

But just when Barrett seemed on the way out a short left hand from the underdog sent Mesi down and when he returned to his feet and charged straight into a flurry of punches the fight had become a contest again.

Mesi spent the rest of the 12 rounds in retreat as Barrett grew in confidence and the crowd chanted ‘Monte, Monte’. Luckily for Mesi, it was too little, too late.

“I’ve never been knocked down before, and I’ll learn from this,” vowed Mesi. “I hate to say it, but I needed to get knocked down.”