"AVERAGE JOE" By Jeff Mayweather

I thought I was going to witness one of the bright stars of the future this past Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, a young heavyweight ready to carry the torch for the Heavyweight Division. The wheels were always turning when it came to the Mesi bandwagon. Joe Mesi must be a great guy outside of the ring but I'm not judging his character. I'm judging his ability inside of the ring and to me, he's nothing more than an average Joe.

I don't understand all this mass hysteria when it comes to Joe Mesi; I don't know where the appeal begins. It's not his looks, as he appears to be exactly what he said in his pre-fight interview, an overweight kid who got into boxing to lose weight. He still looks like an overweight kid. His ability as a fighter is very limited, although so far his career has been well-crafted with stiff after stiff on his resumé.

Joe Mesi beat David Izon who should have retired years ago. He beat DaVarryll Williams, a decent fighter but still a project, obviously with not a lot of time left for improvement as he started his amateur career late and turned professional while in his 30's. I haven't heard this kind of hype on a New York fighter since Gerry Cooney who at least came along at a time when there were some pretty decent fighters still in the Heavyweight Ranks. Today's crop are all 30 plus, and we're in an era where two thirds of the Heavyweight Championship is held by former Middleweights, first being Chris Byrd who came out of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona Spain capturing a Silver Medal at 165 lbs. and Roy Jones Jr., who campaigned at 156 lbs. in the Seoul Korea Olympics also capturing a Silver Medal. Roy also campaigned at Middleweight, Super Middleweight and Light Heavyweight before jumping up to Heavyweight to become the WBA Heavyweight Champion of the World.

I'm still puzzled as to what about Joe Mesi has the people of Buffalo New York so caught up in a frenzy. This guy has a cult-like following and he certainly sells tickets and that is good in any business, but how long do you ride this wagon that almost was derailed Saturday by Monte Barrett, a seemingly blown-up Cruiserweight who gave Joe Mesi all he could handle and some. I can't help but wonder if Joe Mesi is just on this ride knowing that it will soon come to a screeching halt once he faces a legitimate contender. Or is Mesi caught up in his own hype like so many manufactured fighters who can't distinguish reality from marketing and are just cashing in on hype and will still have a very profitable career even if they never capture a Championship Belt? Which is very doubtful, because Championships are won in the ring not because you're the most popular guy on the block.

I applaud Joe Mesi and his management team for keeping everyone's eyes closed this long before he got exposed. Mesi is an ideal opponent for Mike Tyson and he will be paid extremely well, Tyson may not be the Tyson of old but I would certainly have to lean toward Tyson via early kayo.