Vassiliy Jirov vs. Joe Mesi

[sabotai]

The first fight on the card tonight is the Jirov vs. Mesi. It's scheduled for 10 rounds.

Jirov, who was a cruiserweight up to the fight, comes in at 212. Kind of heavy for someone going up to the heavies. Jones Jr was in the 190's when he moved up to fight Ruiz, and I think Toney was either in the 190's or 200's.

Mesi is at 227, 10 pounds lighter than his fight with Barrett, more in line with what he usually weighs in at (He above his usual weight for the Barrett fight).

The reach goes to Mesi, by an inch. Doubt it will be important.

[sabotai]

Round 1

Close round. Typical round where the two fighters are just trying to figure out the other fighters. Jirov looks like he's going to try to just box Mesi. He's staying on the outside throwing the jab and then the hook when Mesi comes inside.

Round to Jirov

[sabotai]

Round 2

Much more action this round. Both fighters are letting the punches fly. Mesi landed a few really nice shots. Both fighters have been warned, Mesi for hitting low and holding and Jirov about his head (he leans forward when he goes in).

Round to Mesi

[sabotai]

Round 3

Jirov is trying to go back to just boxing. The action in this round was more like the 1st round. Not many punches thrown. Jirov's jab was falling short in this round and Mesi continues to land a clean shot every once in awhile.

Round to Mesi

[sabotai]

Round 4

Jirov keeps having troubel finding his mark. Mesi landed a cleen left uppercut haveway through the round and with about 30 second sleft, he landed a series of shots to the body and head. Jirov answered with several shots of his own and looked to hurt Mesi for just a second with a right hand.

Round to Mesi

[sabotai]

Round 5

A slow start to the round, but it picks up halfway. Jirov landed a nice left hand but Mesi answers with a series of shots. Mesi was almost landing at will for the last minute. But, referee warned Mesi again about holding and hitting. If he doesn't stop, he may get a point taken away soon.

Round to Mesi

[sabotai]

Round 6

Mesi wins another round. The referee called time out and told Mesi to stop holding and hitting. A cut is over Jirov's right eye because of an accidental headbutt and it looks bad. As the round nears its end, the referee again warned Mesi for low blow. He said this i shis last warning.

Round to Mesi

[sabotai]

Round 7

The cut looks better now after Jirov's cut man worked on it. Jirov isn't do much of anything out there anymore and Mesi just continues to pound away. Still not sure if Jirov will actually go down to a KO, but I don't see him winning this fight. He basically doesn't have a chance unless he knocks out Mesi.

Round to Mesi

[sabotai]

Round 8

Jirov is dead tired out there. Mesi keeps beating up on him.

Round to Mesi

[sabotai]

Round 9

DOWN GOES MESI! Mesi got knocked down with an overhand right. He goes down to one knee and get right back up. The knockdown counts. Take away the knockdown, and Mesi wins the round easy.

10-9 Round for Jirov because of the knockdown

[sabotai]

MESI's HURT! He's in trouble!

[sabotai]

DOWN GOES MESI AGAIN!

[sabotai]

1:30 left, Mesi's still hurt!

[sabotai]

MESI GOES DOWN AGAIN

[sabotai]

30 seconds left, Mesi is hurt bad!

[sabotai]

Mesi survies only because Jirov is way too tired to finish him off. Mesi was done and Jirov was just too tired.

[sabotai]

Round 10

10-7 round for Jirov

[sabotai]

I have it 95-93 for Mesi

[sabotai]

All 3 judges 94-93 for Mesi

[sabotai]

The crowd boos, but it was the right decision (as far as how the current system is. :) ). Mesi just won too many rounds. Rounds 2-8 were clearly won by Mesi.

[sabotai]

I thought Mesi showed a lot of maturity after his last fight to Barrett. He said he "needed" it and he'll learn from it.

This time...I just don't buy it. He seems too relaxed after the fight. He needs more fire. He needs to be pissed off at himself for getting knocked down and almost losing this fight. Not say "I'm satisfied and I will learn from it". He doesn't show enough emotion. I'm not so sure he will learn from this.

[HornedFrog Purple]

If Mesi is still a ranked fighter after a natural cruiserweight knocked him down 3 times, then I give up. Stick this guy in with a legitimate heavyweight (Tua for example) outside of New York and he is mince meat.

There were a couple of rounds in 2-8 that could have gone in Jirov's favor.

This fight did a lot more good for Jirov then it did for Mesi.

[bosshogg23]

Tua would cream Mesi. Unfortunately Tua isnt going to be fighting this year because of his management issues he is having. I cant see Mesi fighting anyone where he is the underdog right now. Id like to see his team stick him in there with Juan Carlos Gomez, a fellow top 10 fighter who most people dont know about.

[timmae]

Jirov had an amazing comeback. There are doubts aplenty regarding mesi, I am not sure if it was just the southpaw stance as he had mentioned. Overall Mesi looked good and could possibly hold his own. He'll be an interesting heavyweight to follow. We need more guys like him... and less like Lennox.

[sabotai]

It wasn't Jirov being a south paw. It was that Mesi has no chin, and just like in the Barrett fight, he ran out of steam in the later rounds. As of right now, I don't see how Mesi will ever be able to go a full 12 rounds in a fight. His trainers have their work cut out for them to get this guy some endurance.