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 Mesi Stays Positive as Judgment Day Looms
By Michael J. Woods (June 2, 2004)
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The day will soon come for Baby Joe Mesi when he'll see a nationally renowned neurologist, a photo will be taken of his brain and he'll know whether he should get ready for Tyson, or get ready for Plan B.
For Mesi, it will be the big, big time, or time to find another job.
Mesi hasn't pondered what could be if the brainscan shows a hematoma, his father, Jack Mesi, told Maxboxing.
"We haven't thought in a negative vein," Papa Jack said. "We're very upbeat and anxious to get going."
But what if, Papa Jack was asked, the news was bad? What if the doctor wore a somber look on his or her face, held the photo up and pointed out a spot that wasn't supposed to be there?
What then?
Would the Mesi clan seek another opinion, maybe ply their trade in another nation where a bum MRI wouldn't mean the end of an ascending career?
"The stuff that was out there about fighting in China, I think the writer got that from speaking to (Mesi) promoter Tony Holden," Jack Mesi said. "But if Nevada didn't want us, but a doctor said it was OK, you could still go on to other countries, it's a global sport."
Joe Mesi has been forbidden to engage in any boxing until the question whether a hematoma now resides in his brain, or was present following his
fight with Vassiliy Jirov on March 13, is answered. His father said no worries, the WBC's top-rated heavyweight hasn't pulled a Buster Douglas on us.
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"He's not allowed to train right now but that doesn't prevent a treadmill from being in his home,'' Jack Mesi said.
The Visit, in no less than two weeks, will be with one of the top half dozen neurologists in the nation, the fighter's dad stated.
"I can't divulge when or where because the media will be dogging us. Then we'll send all the materials to the Las Vegas Commission. It's only proper to show them the utmost respect. I don't want to disrespect the Commission."
Mesi admits to being miffed that his son's medical records were leaked to members of the press. "It's unethical," he said. "I like Teddy Atlas (who alluded to a mystery heavyweight's potential brain injury on Friday Night Fights) and Tom Hauser (who broke the story on April 22), but it's private health information."
Mesi wouldn't answer specifics regarding a timeline of what doctors his son had seen. Nor would he discuss which doctor or organization would likely have had medical records that were released to members of the press. But Jack Mesi also said that he would not rule out legal action because of the medical record leak.
"I have spoken to lawyers casually," he said. " But I don't really want to take on all that nonsense. I just want Joe to be okayed to be cleared to fight. But I don't know what (the writers) are talking about. They'd have to be asked in a court of law where they got the information."
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Management types are operating under the assumption that Joe Mesi will get a clean bill of health, Jack Mesi said. "This week Shelly Finkel called Tony Holden (to talk about a Tyson/Mesi matchup). Joe's number one in the WBC, in the world. We're the money fight now."
So the countdown to The Visit starts, and Joe Mesi passes the time on the treadmill, and doing charity work. He gave two pairs of gloves that raised $3,500 for cancer research last week, Jack Mesi reports, and thinks positively.
"Joe just gave a commencement speech at a college," Jack Mesi said. "He mentioned to the students, 'Never let anyone kill your dreams.'''
***
Forgive me readers, for I have
sinned
Confession time: I too had designs on fashioning my very own boxing-based reality show.
The idea hatched in this fertile, if a tad unoriginal mind, in February. I brainstormed a scenario a lot like Mark Burnett's "The Contender"; my working title was "Real Life Rocky."
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I'd gone so far as to have a meeting with a friend who's in charge of marketing at Met-Rx. He liked the concept and said he could help provide funding. The Met-Rx guy also knows people at Bally Total Fitness, and would speak to them on my behalf, he told me. That way we could attempt to find a tele-friendly cast, using tryouts to be held at the fitness clubs across the nation. It would be synergy personified, scratching each other’s backs...
Pals I practiced my pitch on were enthusiastic, so I plunged ahead, whistling happily in a brainstormy bliss. Until the day came that the music died. Trolling the 'net, I came across a clip announcing the Burnett and Stallone concept. Tears dripped down onto my keyboard and I wailed to my girlfriend. She cheered me up as best she could.
Pals told me to buck up, at least you know your instincts are right on.
I soldiered on, hoping that there was enough room in the pool for another float.
Perhaps I'll pitch my version to BET, I thought. I was guessing African-Americans would be under represented on the Burnett/Stallone show, judging by Burnett's other efforts. Shannon Briggs, he'll be thrilled to know, was my first choice to partner up with. And then my keyboard got another soaking.
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This time, I read that Jim Lampley and George Foreman would be hatching a boxing based reality show. With George in the pool I knew that there truly would be no more room for another float in the water.
But when I read that Oscar De La Hoya would be pairing with Fox for a boxing reality series, my keyboard stayed dry. You can't copyright ideas, after all, and it turns out that everybody and their Uncle Floyd was thinking along the same lines. This reality was hammered home when I watched some kid hector Bob Arum about his concept for a boxing reality show starring Iran Barkley after the Hopkins/De La Hoya/Allen/Sturm press conference in NYC on March 4. Kid had a little video player with him and he showed Arum a snippet of a "pilot." He had misspelled "Reality" in the show credit. Ouch.
Arum watched dutifully and I departed, secure in the knowledge that one day my ship would come in.
Maybe it will be a row boat, and maybe it will arrive in 2012, but my ship will come in.
***
Please allow me
to introduce myself...
I'm glad to be here, hope to stay for a while.
That's a bit iffy, based on my recent history with this medium but really, I'm optimistic in this case.
I've been around the internet block, debuting a few years ago on BoxingPress, bouncing to SecondsOut, doing a short spell with Fightnews and then a quickie with Max at the start of this year.
The SecondsOut gig took a bit out of me, as I had to practically cyberstalk that crew to ante up some funds they owed me for work done over two years.
The owner of the site was kind enough to cough it up not long ago, but not before I was insulted by one of the sub editors there, whose name I don't recall.
When I wrote him asking for a hand in debt collection, he chastised me for being a mercenary, lecturing me that very few people make a living writing about boxing.
Most he said, do it for the love of craft. Most, I told him, don't live in NY. Perhaps where he lives, landlords accept internet website clips in lieu of cold cash for rent. Not here, craft lover.
But I'll be here for the foreseeable future, hopefully lending a hand in NYC to the hardest working man in the biz, Tom Gerbasi. Here's a guy who churns out so much copy, he has to replace computer keyboards like Townsend used to replace guitars.
It's an honor and a pleasure.
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