Saturday, June 19, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Mesi spurns commission's request

Suspended boxer asked for medical records since March

By KEVIN IOLE
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Vassiliy Jirov, right, lands a punch against Joe Mesi in the 10th round of their heavyweight fight March 13 at Mandalay Bay. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

Unbeaten heavyweight contender Joe Mesi has failed to provide records requested by the Nevada Athletic Commission that prove he is fit to fight in the wake of his March 13 victory over Vassiliy Jirov at Mandalay Bay.

Mesi, 30, won a 10-round unanimous decision, but was knocked down once in the ninth and twice in the 10th. He was unsteady on his feet and appeared on the verge of being knocked out when the fight ended. He was suspended indefinitely by the commission after the fight.

The federal Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act requires all states to honor the suspension. Mesi, 29-0 with 25 knockouts, is hoping to arrange a multimillion-dollar fight for this year against former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.

State boxing regulators are concerned Mesi may have suffered a subdural hematoma, or bleeding on the brain. Nevada law does not permit a fighter who has had a cerebral hemorrhage to be licensed.

Commission chairman John Bailey sent Mesi a certified letter March 19 requesting all medical records since the Jirov fight. Mesi attorney Stuart Campbell told deputy attorney general Keith Kizer on Monday that Mesi's records would be shipped shortly.

But Thursday, Campbell told Kizer that Mesi would not be forwarding his records. Campbell told Kizer that Mesi would agree to see a physician of the commission's choosing in order to have his suspension lifted.

Kizer said "a reliable source" that he could not name because of attorney-client privilege told him Mesi has had five MRIs since the Jirov fight. Kizer said Campbell told him that Mesi has had only one MRI. Campbell could not be reached Friday for comment. Mesi and his father/manager, Jack, did not return phone calls.

Neurologist Margaret Goodman, the chairwoman of the commission's medical advisory board, said 85 percent of all boxing deaths are because of subdural hematomas. She said the last three boxers to die in rings in Nevada -- Jimmy Garcia, Johnny Montantes and Pedro Alcazar -- each had a subdural hematoma.

Mesi promoter Tony Holden berated the media for what he called "rumor mongering with no ability to present the truth." Holden said Mesi would not attempt to circumvent the suspension and either fight on an Indian reservation or in another country, but he said Mesi will attempt to prove to the commission he is fit to compete.

Goodman, also the commission's chief ringside physician, said a person with a subdural hematoma can be at risk from such things as taking aspirin or drinking alcohol. Also, she said a person who has had bleeding on the brain is predisposed to seizures.

Kizer said the commission might choose to send Mesi to another physician, but said Mesi must first comply with Bailey's request and provide any medical examinations he has undergone since the Jirov fight.

"It's not like the commission has asked him for something that is hard to compile," Kizer said. "We haven't asked him for his first-grade report card. It's very reasonable after a fight in this state for the commission, whose job it is to protect the health and welfare of the fighters who compete here, to ask for these records. It's what, three, four months? That shouldn't be too difficult."