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"THINGS START OUT A BIT MESI BUT TURN OUT
ALL WRIGHT"
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Tonight’s television fight card on HBO started with a heavyweight bout between up and coming Joe Mesi against former cruiserweight champion Vasiliy Jirov. Jirov came into the ring for his first heavyweight bout at 212 while Mesi trimmed down to 227, ten pounds lighter than from his previous bout with Monte Barrett .
The fight started off with the southpaw Jirov looking to stay on the outside and box Mesi but this game plan would not last long for Jirov as Mesi started to out box and out punch him throughout most of the first eight rounds of the scheduled ten round fight.
Jirov who is known as one of the best body punchers in the sport seemed to all but abandon his body attack for most of this fight. He wasn’t so quick to mix it up on the inside perhaps due to the short hard punches Mesi would throw every time Jirov got close enough.
The fighters' heads clashed together several times in the bout causing a cut to open over Jirov's right eye. In the ninth round Mesi seemed well on his way to winning the fight by a wide margin until Jirov landed a right hand that sent Mesi to his knee; Mesi didn’t seem to be too shaken up and made it out of the ninth round. In the tenth and final round Jirov suddenly regained his energy and jumped on Mesi like a tiger, throwing every thing he had. Jirov again sent Mesi to the canvas but this time with more authority than in the ninth round. Mesi again rose to his feet and traded punches with Jirov only to fall for a third time in the fight. Mesi beat the count and stayed on his feet by grabbing on to Jirov any chance he had. Mesi went on to beat the bell and survive the fight.
I have a feeling Mesi was thanking God this wasn’t a 12 round bout. In the end the judges scored the fight unanimously 94-93. Mesi ups his record to 29-0 (25 KO’s) and Jirov drops to 33-2 (29 KO’s).
The main event pitted two of the sports best fighters in a fight that was billed as the “War at 154!” with WBC and WBA champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley putting his two titles on the line against IBF champion Ronald “Winky” Wright. The contest was for all the marbles, the winner would walk away as the best Jr. Middleweight fighter in boxing; both fighters had more than enough incentive to win this fight.
Shane Mosley has a big payday waiting against Felix “Tito” Trinidad if he were to walk away the victor tonight. For Winky Wright it’s more than big paydays if he is crowned the undisputed champion at 154; it’s the recognition and stardom he is fighting for, his chance at the spotlight.
The Las Vegas' odds had Mosley a 3-1 favorite, which seemed to be a bit out of ordinary to me, seeing Mosley hasn’t had a completely dominating performance since his fight with Adrian Stone in 2001 where he scored a third round knockout. After the Stone fight Mosley faced two defeats at the hands of Vernon Forrest. After the Forrest fights Mosley moved up to the 154 pound weight division where his first fight against Raul Marquez was ruled a no contest due to a cut Marquez suffered as a result of a head butt. Consequently Mosley fought and won a very controversial fight with then champion Oscar De La Hoya.
In the first round of tonight's match you had a feeling this would be Wright's coming out party, he looked extremely sharp in the ring. Winky's sharp performance would continue in rounds three and four with Mosley looking confused and drained just a few rounds into the fight. In the corner between the third and fourth rounds Mosley already had the look of a beaten fighter. It wouldn’t be until round five that Mosley would awaken and put in a more energetic attack but it wouldn’t last long.
In round seven Winky started to take complete control of the fight once again making Mosley look more like a sparring opponent at times than a world champion. His tight defense would block many of Mosley’s punches; when Mosley threw to the body many times he would hit Wright's elbows and when he came upstairs he would hit the leather on Wright's gloves rather than his face. Perhaps it was Wright's defense that all but sucked away Mosley's confidence, or it could have been Wright's sharp shooting, since at times Wright could pick his shots without any retaliation from Mosley.
I’m guessing it was a little bit or a lot of both that had Mosley all but a one punch fighter. It seemed that Mosley’s body was stuck in quicksand at times; there were no fluid motions from the once slick fighter. Coming into the last round Mosley needed a knockout to walk away the winner and he knew it. He came out swinging at the very confident Wright, who didn’t back away from the oncoming Shane.
Wright wanted to close out the final round like a champion and stood toe to toe with Mosley through most of it only to cover and slip Mosley’s punches for the final minute of the bout. As the final bell rang you could see boxing had a new superstar in Winky Wright; finally he was put in the spotlight.
The judges scored the fight in favor of now undisputed 154 pound champion Ronald “Winky” Wright. The final score cards read 117-111 twice and 116-112. Wright's record improves to 47-3 (25 KO’s) while Mosley drops to 39-3 (35 KO’s).
3-13-2004
