Why did he stop boxing in '04? He was an undefeated boxer w a pretty good resume...He certainly would be getting a high paying title shot soon if he kept boxing. Why did he stop boxing in '07? He had 3 consec 1st rd KO's (albeit vs terrible competition) and certainly would've been able to get a high paying fight thereafter. Thoughts on this? And also thoughts on if he was good enough to become champion if he stuck around after '04?
His license was suspended indefinitely after the Jirov fight when it was discovered that he had multiple subdural hematomas. Somehow, his lawyers managed to have the medical suspension overturned in court a couple of years later. I don't have any specifics about when and why he quit again. If he hadn't been injured, he had a decent shot at picking up an ABC title IMO. It's a shame though. He seemed like a really good guy.
He quit the second time to try to run for political office, but failed. Also, I suspect he saw the writing on the wall. After struggling all those years to get his licence back, his next few fights showed that he wasn't nearly the same fighter that starched opponents like Williamson.
Touch of sleep was a nobody. The win meant nothing. Mesi himself was a nobody. He only had such a huge following because people in Buffalo are stupid. The guy was ****. He battled in court to fight even though he had a career injury when suffering bleeding on the brain. When he did come back he had a ton of ring rust. Decent career but his life is worth more.
Harsh,,, but true. Mesi was a con-job. He landed a lucky shot vs Williamson on HBO,,, but then proceeded to get beat up by Monte Barret and Vassily Jirov (a cruiserweight) :-( He was on his way to getting himself hurt bad if he stepped up to face a real HW... and wisely decided to hang them up.
Williamson was picke dby many on here to beat Mesi, so was Barrett. Mesi was good, he got ****ed when Teddy Atlas used ESPN broadcast to leak story about head injury, getting Mesi suspended.
Yeah, Mesi's record was VERY padded. As soon as he stepped it, he began to struggle. His chin was quite suspect. If he hadn't got heart, he almost certainly would have been exposed pretty quickly.
You are right in a sense, I remember watching most of his fights live when he fought Jirov, Barret, and Williamson. If I'm not mistaken he was hurt pretty bad towards the end of the Barret fight, I remember him going down and the round was nearly over. Mesi was slightly above average fighter, with decent power. I think the reason he was so popular, was his top notch personailty, which later landed him a job for ESPN announcing fights, and he was a pretty exciting fighter to watch as well.
He was also runner up for spot on Olympic tea, and split two fights with Rahman in amateurs. The guys he beat were called good on here, till he beat them. Then, after he won, it was "Who did he beat?"
He was fun to watch. Way underrated power and could put nice smooth combo's together. 04 he quit because of the brain bleed- couldn't get a license. In between he weight close to 280lb, came back, lost the weight, but thats never good on the body and though he was still good with wicked power, he wasnt' the same fighter. Wasted potental.
