Thunder and Lightning in Buffalo, NY

By Bob Caico

In keeping with their promise to bring big time boxing back to Buffalo, Team Mesi and Holden Productions have scheduled another card at the HSBC Arena. The bouts are slated for June 24 and will be the second ESPN 2 card in Buffalo featuring "Baby Joe" Mesi in the last eight months. This time, "Baby Joe" will be facing Robert Davis, a 31-year-old heavyweight from Akron, Ohio who sports a 28-5 record with 16 KOs.

Davis began his career with 22 straight wins but has lost five of his last ten fights. Three of those losses were against highly respected heavyweights, Lance Whitaker, Michael Moorer and Michael Grant. Davis also has wins over tough and experienced heavyweights Greg Page, Charles Shufford, Sedrick Fields and Frankie Swindell. Davis stands 6-foot-4 and weighs about 225 pounds. Most experts feel this will be Baby Joe’s biggest test so far. Jack Mesi said, "Davis is a very worthy opponent. He’s been the N.A.B.A. champion; he’s had better opposition than us. He’s bigger, stronger he’s much bigger than Joe he’s not an opponent we can take lightly. He’s a dangerous fighter because he’s a turned-around southpaw. He has a huge; huge left hand, which is his lead hand. So he can be very dangerous, very difficult style wise."

Their only common opponent was Keith McKnight, who they both scored 5th round KOs against. Davis, in fact, won the NABF Interim Heavyweight title in that fight against McKnight. At the press conference announcing the fight, "Baby Joe" said, "I can not look past Robert Davis, he is too big and too strong." Mesi’s record is 25-0 with 21 KOs knocking out the last 16 straight. Some media outlets, including the major local daily paper have labeled Davis another pushover, an accusation that angers Team Mesi.

Jack responded by saying, "There’s nobody criticizing Robert Davis except the local daily paper…because they don’t like me. Nobody else who fought Robert Davis was criticized only Joe. The worst thing you can do to a fighter is criticize his opponent. We talked about fighting Mike Tyson and the daily paper started calling him "Rusty" Mike instead of "Iron" Mike. If we fight Lennox Lewis they would say he’s too old."

This will be "Baby Joe’s" second fight since leaving Sugar Ray Leonard Boxing and teaming up with his new promoter, Tony Holden. Holden promoted a few of Mesi’s early fights.

This past March, "Baby Joe" knocked out cruiserweight Jason Curry in two rounds in Tulsa, in a tune up fight. Team Mesi and Holden are hoping for a bout with Mike Tyson after they take care of Davis. "He’s the best name and that’s the fight I want. I want Mike Tyson, that is my goal," said Joe. Informal negotiations have been going on between Holden and Tyson’s manager, Shelly Finkel, for a bout to be held in Western New York. Of course, with Tyson’s volatile personality and the shadow of Don King around, who knows if anything can be worked out any time soon. If a fight with Mike Tyson does not pan out, Jack Mesi, Joe’s manager and father, says they will be looking for an HBO or ShowTime quality boxer for their next opponent. With current published reports about impatient and waning fan support for "Baby Joe", Jack Mesi said, "the boxing fans in Buffalo are smart, they realize there are setbacks in boxing, and the people in Buffalo will stay with Joe through thick and thin, and vice versa." Jack said that "Baby Joe" will go into the fight weighing about 234 pounds, down from a career high of 245 pounds against Curry in his last fight. "Joe is working on adding bulk to his frame in order to compete with bigger heavyweights. The extra weight is lean muscle and will be no problem for him to carry," remarked Jack Mesi.

The co-main event for the June 24 bout will be Zahir Raheem verses Angel Vasquez. Raheem is an undefeated featherweight, currently rated 12th by the IBF and the WBC. His record stands at 22-0 with 12 KOs. Team Mesi has put forth the following names for consideration for the seven bout under card: Tommy "Hurricane" Huff and DeMario Crittenden from Niagara Falls, NY, Pedo Alesandro from Buffalo, Russell Jordan and Dan Lucas from Rochester, James Ventry and Mike Irwin (pro debut) from Niagara Falls, Canada. Huff and Ventry fought on the Mesi verses Izon undercard at Buffalo Thunder on October 18, 2002. The Mesi’s are trying to gain exposure for the local fighters, and to give the Western New York area a chance to see their own home grown talent.

Tickets for the Tuesday night show are on sale at the HSBC Arena box office and through Tickets.com outlets. Prices will be the same as the Buffalo Thunder show, $20 up to a top price of $150.

Jack Mesi said, "If you liked the last show, you will LOVE this next show."

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