Joe Mesi - damaged goods or overrated ?

Discussion in 'World Boxing Forum' started by frankenfrank, Apr 15, 2010.


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  1. zoo

    zoo Active Member Full Member

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    Had chin issues but overall he was actually pretty good. Fast hands and good power. Though his fights with Jirov and Barrett were close, he still clearly won them both. He got a bad wrap from day one though, at the time everybody though Dominick Guinn was the next great thing (btw, great prediction guys).
     
    zoo, Apr 15, 2010
    zoo, Apr 15, 2010
    #16
  2. wvucheerjr

    wvucheerjr Active Member Full Member

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    Agreed. He was completely outclassing Jirov up until that point, much more so than James Toney had done previously in their Cruiserweight Title Fight. Wouldnt put him in the "great white hope" category because he never had the hype or the punch of Tommy Morrison. With the right matchups yea he coudl have had a belt. Think about when he would have been fighting if his career was uninerupted. I could see Mesi having easily gotten a belt off of John Ruiz or Chris Byrd in that time period. But no way he stays undefeated unless he retired early or let himself get stripped of the belt. Eventually someone large would have been a mandatory and beat Mesi easily.
     
    wvucheerjr, Apr 15, 2010
    wvucheerjr, Apr 15, 2010
    #17
  3. iceman71

    iceman71 WBC SILVER Champion Full Member

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    gee how original
    douche bag
     
    iceman71, Apr 15, 2010
    iceman71, Apr 15, 2010
    #18
  4. kirk

    kirk l l l Staff Member

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    Just in my opinion i think he was a fairly average heavy with an above average punch and whos claim to fame is destroying TOS. I think many of todays heavies would have put a beat down on him, Adamek, Haye, Chagaev, Wlad, Vitali,

    I think fights with Tua, Valuev, Peter, Arreola would be tough on mesi as well. In fact, i think even an in shape, motivated and younger James Toney would have given mesi some problems as well.

    All in all, he was an average heavy with good power that put together a string of decent wins before the injury, but i never considered him a real threat to the top and think it was just a matter of stepping up his comp until hed be crushed, and then recycled throughout winning and losing some along the way as he became somewhat of a gatekeeper style.

    Nothing against Mesi, he was very much an overachiever and was usually exciting to boot, well spoken and i wish he could have continued, not a bad fighter at all but also fairly run of the mill as far as decent heavyweights go, albiet with a somewhat bigger punch.
     
    kirk, Apr 15, 2010
    kirk, Apr 15, 2010
    #19
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