"Baby" Joe passes his test

By Dave Ricci

"Baby" Joe passed the test. On October 18 in front over 16,000-hometown fans, Buffalo’s "Baby" Joe Mesi dropped David Izon nine seconds into the ninth round of their schedule 10-round contest. Mesi (24-0, 22KO’s) did what he needed to do, he got past Izon–the gatekeeper. "I got past the gatekeeper," Mesi said after the fight. "He’s very strong. He never hit me flush. He never hurt me. He poked me in both of my eyes, which was about the worst of it; (my vision) was blurred a little bit. But he never hurt me; I could kind of see everything coming. I got past the gatekeeper the way I wanted to. I showed everybody that I’m not one dimensional, that I can be adaptable against a guy that’s going to put pressure on me. If I need to put pressure on a guy that can move, I can do that. I out boxed him and I made him look bad."

Team Mesi has worked diligently in recent months to expand Joe’s in ring style. Slowly but surely, Mesi has been able to incorporate traits from other weight classes so he doesn’t have to rely on trying to win solely on power.

"Sugar" Ray Leonard said, "He prevailed. It was a magnificent performance. I was so proud of Joe; he took some shots, which showed he did not have a glass jaw. He showed a great deal of versatility and showed he is not one-dimensional."

Still feeling the effects of a bout with the flu, Mesi’s early round movement was on the slow side, as was Izon’s. As the fight wore on, Mesi’s speed picked up. Izon seemingly landed solid shots; Mesi shrugged them off and was relentless in his attack as he peppered Izon with punches. Mesi knocked Izon down at the 1:24 mark of the third round.

Joe said, "He’s strong, he’s dominating, he’s ruined a lot of prospects career’s. I paced myself for the first four rounds. I threw a lot of punches. I felt his strength and durability and I kind of slowed it down a little bit."

In the later rounds, Mesi brought a full-scale assault. In the closing seconds of the eighth round, Mesi rocked Izon with an uppercut that most likely would have ended the bout then, had more time been on the clock. The ringside Physician examined Izon and allowed him to continue.

Knowing he had Izon right where he wanted him, Mesi immediately attacked Izon with a flurry of punches. Referee Jim Santa stepped in and stopped the fight just nine seconds into the ninth. "I wanted to put a little pressure in the ninth with out wasting my energy, he’s that durable. He’s a tough guy, I don’t think he would have gone down if the ref hadn’t stopped it."

After the fight, "Sugar" Ray told me that he felt Joe’s victory over Izon should once and for all erase any doubt people have about Joe’s ability. That he is indeed for real.
Doubters and people filled with negativity will find a way to devalue Mesi’s win over Izon, but the fact is, Mesi has beaten a named opponent and he looked good doing it.
Fight Notebook

At the post fight party in the Harbor Club in HSBC Arena, Joe and his cousin, Julie Barnase, launched their foundation–"Baby" Joe’s Fight for Organ Donations." Julie said, "The support is overwhelming and that’s because of Joe. Joe supports all of these other good causes and now people are coming out for him." The foundation was born out of Joe’s help for his cousin Genelle Shanor who needs a kidney transplant. Through his work helping Genelle, Joe came to see how important all organ donorship is.

The organization will not only help raise funds, but awareness. Organ donation is easy. It’s a simple matter of signing your drivers’ license.

Joe will do the coin toss for the E.C.C. Kats final home game on November 2 at 1pm (for more information on the game, see the ECC ad in this edition). He’ll also be on hand to sign autographs and talk about the organ