Boxing
Mesi’s next fight a precursor?
by MATT KRUEGER Reporter

When Town of Tonawanda heavyweight “Baby” Joe Mesi steps back into the ring Feb. 22 at the Mountaineer Race Track, Casino and Resort in Chester, West Virginia, it could be a setup for an even bigger fight down the road.

Mesi will co-headline the event with a 10-round bout against an undetermined opponent. In the other co-main event, former two-time world heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman will face an undetermined opponent. The card will air nationally on the cable channel Versus.

“This is heading toward a Mesi-Rahman fight,” Mesi’s manager and father Jack Mesi said in a phone interview. “Both of them want that to happen.”

The Mesi-Rahman showdown is one that has been talked about for several years. When Mesi became a top-10 fighter in 2003, Rahman began telling everyone he wanted to fight Mesi and would come to Buffalo to do it. The fight would generate plenty of interest in Western New York if Mesi receives a license from the New York State Athletic Commission. Mesi is from Buffalo and Rahman trains out of Rochester.

The two fighters also have a history together. Mesi defeated Rahman as an amateur.

This will be the fifth fight for Mesi (33-0, 26 knockouts) since the Sweet Home High School graduate made his comeback from a two-year medical suspension earlier this year. This is also the first time Mesi will fight a 10-round bout since getting injured in his unanimous-decision win over Vassiliy Jirov in 2004.

“This is going to make a big story for us,” Jack Mesi said. “This will show people we’re on our way back to the top.”

Rahman (41-6-2, 33 knockouts) lost the WBC heavyweight title to Oleg Maskaev in his last fight on Aug. 12. He was given the title after he won the interim championship with a 12-round unanimous decision over Monte Barrett last year and titleholder Vitali Klitschko retired due to injuries.

e-mail: mkrueger@beenews.com