Rahman vs Mesi

That's actually a really good fight and styles clash...gonna have to think on that.

 

So basically the version of Rahman where Rahman had finally gotten his act together? I'd favor Rahman, although that fight with Barrett was booooooring.

Mesi got a lot of grief for being a White Hype, but in my opinion he was actually a lot better than guys like Ron Stander or Tye Fields. He had surprisingly fast hands, could string combinations together, and had pop in his shots. And for being a guy who suffered a traumatic brain injury, he was decently elusive.

I think Mesi just didn't look like a fighter and people judged him based on his appearance: he always wore trunks that were super baggy and long, and he wore them halfway up to his nipples. And he was pudgy and there was something about his stance and the way he moved that almost seemed like he was a guy who was pretending to be a boxer. And...let's face it...he was really, really, really white and didn't look even a tiny bit intimidating.

All of that worked together to create a bad impression. Watching Joe was kind of like if one of the guys from your company's finance department got in the ring for a boxing team-building activity at the annual company picnic to square off against Keith, the guy from Legal. Except in this case, the guy from finance was a legit badass.

 

I like Rahman over Mesi. Mesi was a decent fighter but even without the injury in the Jirov fight I think his ceiling wasn't that high.

 

What an odd post.

Do you know who Joe Mesi is?

I didn't get that impression of him at all. I watched him as an amateur. He didn't look like a joke when he stopped Rahman as an amateur. He didn't look like a joke when he was one fight away from making the 1996 U.S. Olympic boxing team. He didn't look like a joke when he was knocking out Bert Cooper and Jose Luis Gonzales and Davaryll Williamson on his way to becoming the WBC #1 contender.

The only thing in your post that made sense was he was better than Ron Stander and Tye Fields. A lot better.

So much better I have no idea why you would even compare him to them.

And you can be "elusive" and still suffer a brain injury.

And how many guys WIN the fights in which they suffer traumatic brain injuries? That's a pretty short list.

 

I honestly don't think there was much separating the two. And when they did fight (as amateurs), Mesi stopped him in two.

 

Rahman had virtually no amature career. Wiki says it was 10 fights long.

You all are forgetting that these two shared a common opponent. Rahman beat Monte Barret wide in 2005 and Joe Mesi won by about a round against Barrett after Barrett knocked the crap out of him late in a 10 rounder, if I remember correctly.

Mesi never beat a good full sized heavyweight and this more than likely ends with Mesi brutally stopped in the second half of the fight.

Rahman finished Lennox Lewis and Corrie Sanders inside the distance and turned Kali Meehan into a punching bag. These two were not on the same level.

 

If they weren't on the same level, then I doubt Mesi would've stopped Rahman when they actually got in the ring against each other. But Mesi did beat Rahman. So, you can't really say they were levels apart.

Joe Mesi never faced or beat anyone on the level of Lennox Lewis, that's true. Rahman definitely faced better opponents. But Mesi did beat David Izon, Monte Barrett, Bert Cooper, Jorge Luis Gonzales and Davarryl Williamson, and those were all solid wins.

I don't think Oleg Maskaev could've defeated Lennox Lewis ever, but Oleg still knocked the hell out of Rahman twice. Mesi and Maskaev were similar in terms of style and power (and maybe chins).

I think Joe Mesi and Rahman were pretty evenly matched. Like I said, I don't think there was much between them. It didn't look like it when they fought each other, and Joe won.

Sometimes amateur wins are meaningless because one guy turns out to be a great pro and another is a mediocre pro. But Mesi wasn't mediocre. He was the top contender when he was forced out of the ring. He was certainly better than Monte Barrett and Williamson, who got title shots against Rahman and Byrd after losing to Mesi. Hell, a year after getting wasted in one by Mesi, Williamson had Wlad on the floor and nearly outpointed Byrd.

It's too bad Mesi was injured by Jirov. I think Rahman-Mesi for the vacant WBC belt would've been a fun fight. And either could've won.

 

Stopped reading at the first paragraph...too ridiculous. Rahman had ten am fights. Mesi was a polished am. Mesi was on Monte Barrett's level.

 

Again, do you know who Joe Mesi is?

They fought in 1993. Joe Mesi didn't take up boxing until 1992. How "polished" of an amateur was Mesi in 1993? He and Rahman took up the sport MONTHS apart. And Rahman was a year older than him.

Jesus.

They fought each other at the starts of their amateur careers. And Mesi stopped Rahman in two.

 

I can pull up a poster on the other forum who had a close fight with Andre Ward 20+ years ago. Any mention of Rahman'a am experience discredits whatever you're saying because Rahman had no am experience. Mesi would get so winded in clinches with Rahman in 2005.

 

You just said Rahman had 10 fights and Mesi was a "polished" amateur, and that wasn't true. They started months apart. Neither guy had much of any amateur experience in 1993, and Mesi stopped Rahman in two.

Nothing I've said is discredited. Sorry.

How many amateur fights do you think Joe Mesi had in 1993 when he just learned how to box in 1992?

Just how "polished" do you think he was? What was Mesi's "polished" record in 1993?

 

Alright, you can stick to an am fight when Rahman was a kid who was year or two removed from being a criminal, and I'll stick to their actual pro careers; one the two was the lineal heavyweight champion.

Mesi was not a 12 round fighter. Barrett and Jirov would've won if those were 12 round fights.

 

Rahman was 20. Mesi was 19. If Rahman was a kid, what was Mesi, who stopped him in two?

 

I missed Joe Mesi, he was a fun guy to watch. Very personable also. Too bad about the subdural hematoma, because I believe after his win over Jirov he was in line for a shot at the WBC title. I don't think he would have beaten Lennox or Vitali, but he would have gotten a big payday. I think he's doing well nowadays, didn't he run for a political office in Upstate New York?