Former heavyweight contender (36-0, 29 KOs) reportedly has injured his shoulder while training, making it neccessary for him to cancel his next bout against Terry Smith on April 4th. Mesi, 34, is deeply disappointed because the bout was going to be shown on ESPN, and it would have been a good opportunity for Mesi to get some badly needed publicity for his comeback. The injury will require that Mesi take off between three weeks to a month to let his shoulder heal. No surgery will be required for the shoulder, which is one thing that Mesi has going for him.
Mesi, who has won all seven of his bouts since coming off a two-year medical suspension due to two subdural hematomas Mesi received in his bout with Vassily Jirov in 2004. There was worry that if Mesi continued fighting, he’d possibly re-injure his head which could lead to death. However, since making his comeback, Mesi has been slow in stepping up the level of his competition. In point of fact, he’s fought almost exclusively C-level fighters that have been little threat to him.
At 34, soon to be 35, Mesi doesn’t have a lot of time make his move in the heavyweight division if that’s what his intentions are. There are some people who feel that Mesi will never have the talent to challenge for a title due to his time away from boxing and the possiblilty of additional brain bleeds. The latest injury would seem to make it even more difficult for Mesi to progress with his career.
In his last several of bouts, against George Linberger, Ron Johnson and Shannon Miller, Mesi has looked very impressive, yet he still seems hesitant to step it up against better opponents for some reason. It’s unclear what he’s waiting for, for he seems to be as ready as he’ll ever get. From here on in, it would appear that Mesi can only get diminishing returns as he ages more. His rankings are still quite low – #17 in the WBC – so if his idea is to fight 3rd tier opposition exclusively until one of the champions gives him a shot at a big payday, he could be making a big gamble.
Many of the heavyweights would probably not see it as an attractive fight going up against a fighter not ranked in the top #15. Worse than that, however, with Mesi’s history of brain bleeds, this is another reason why he would be less attractive as an opponent for one of the champions.