Joe Mesi, once a top ten heavyweight contender regularly featured on HBO began his comeback on April 1, 2006 at the Coliseo Mario Morales in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico where he fought and beat journeyman Ronald Bellamy by an 8-round unanimous decision. Mesi had not fought since March 13, 2004 when he sustained several subdural hematomas during a bout with Vassiliy Jirov in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Now having won seven fights in a row and the WBC USNBC heavyweight title by knocking out Shannon Miller in round one on October 12, 2007 Mesi was to face one of his toughest opponents yet, the hard punching Terry Smith. A win for Mesi could prove to the naysayers that he is fit to fight and remove the black cloud that has been hanging over his head since his brain bleeds in 2004. Unfortunately Mesi has suffered a shoulder injury and was forced to pull out of the scheduled April 4th fight which was to be televised on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights.
| Fight | Location | Date | Boxing Tickets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mesi vs TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
Joe "Baby Joe" Mesi
Mesi vs Jirov - 10th Round
Joe Mesi was knocked down once in round nine and twice in round ten during his 10-round unanimous decision win over Vassiliy Jirov in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 13, 2004. After the fight Mesi complained of a headache. Several days later it was discovered he had suffered several subdural hematomas (brain bleeds) during his fight with Jirov. On ESPN2 as a guest commentator Mesi alluded that they were caused by a rabbit punch (an illegal blow to the back of the head) by Jirov during the bout.
As common practice because of the knockdowns Mesi's suffered during his fight with Jirov on March 13th the Nevada Athletic Commission suspended Mesi's license to box. Whether or not his medical records indicating that he had suffered three subdural hematomas during the fight were leaked to the commission, on March 19th Mesi was sent a letter telling him that his license would be indefinately suspended until he underwent a new MRI and forwarded the results and all other records of medical evaluations he received after the Jirov fight to them. It should be noted that Nevada has a policy that no one who has suffered a brain bleed can fight again.
Initially not turning over his medical records circumventing the Nevada Athletic Commission in a decision dated December 19, 2005 Mesi had his suspension overturned by Nevada state judge Douglas W. Herndon who ruled that Mesi's medical suspension expired when his Nevada boxing license expired on December 31, 2004. While suspended Mesi was barred from boxing anywhere in the United States. With his name now removed from the suspended list Mesi was free to fight.
Despite presenting expert medical testimony arguing that he was at no greater risk than anyone else to brain injury Nevada Athletic Commission refused to renew Mesi's license to box. In 2006 boxing commissions of Puerto Rico, Louisiana, Arkansas, Michigan, West Virginia and Rhode Island have granted Mesi boxing licenses.