The most protected guy in boxing history?

[IGotAHugePeckah]

LaMar Clark (believe or not he's a white guy), 43-3 with 42 KO's. Lost to a young Muhammad Ali and Pete Rademacher (who was the original Loma, won an Olympic gold medal and jumped immediately into a pro world title fight with Floyd Patterson).

https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/9367

Sounds like a great record and he must be some kind of murderous puncher the likes of an Ernie Shavers. Only when you look at his record, 27 of his wins were making their pro debut, 10 of them had fought but had never even won a fight, and all but 1 had losing records. This has to be the most protected fighter in boxing history.

Finally ends up fighting real competition and gets destroyed. Ali broke his nose and knocked him out in the 2nd round, and he decided fighting non-tomato cans wasn't any fun and he retired.

 

[ProBoxingInsidr]

joe messi comes to mind as another guy. he was a huge deal in buffalo, so they made sure to always give him fights he should win. retired 36-0

 

[IGotAHugePeckah]

joe messi comes to mind as another guy. he was a huge deal in buffalo, so they made sure to always give him fights he should win. retired 36-0

yeah he feasted on a lot of wash ups and bums. Gotta give him respect for fighting Jirov though, they saw what he did with Toney and had to know that would be a tough fight. Which I guess it was, it basically ended his career.

 

[Mr2urbo]

yeah he feasted on a lot of wash ups and bums. Gotta give him respect for fighting Jirov though, they saw what he did with Toney and had to know that would be a tough fight. Which I guess it was, it basically ended his career.

Didnt Messi sustain serious injuries after that fight???

I vaguely remember Jirov winning that fight though.

 

[IGotAHugePeckah]

Didnt Messi sustain serious injuries after that fight???

I vaguely remember Jirov winning that fight though.

Yeah that was the fight he suffered the brain bleed after or whatever he had. He came back a few years later and beat a handful of bums but I think that effectively ended his competitive boxing career. Shame we didn't get to see him against some of the better HWs of the time.

 

[RabbitPunch36]

Yeah that was the fight he suffered the brain bleed after or whatever he had. He came back a few years later and beat a handful of bums but I think that effectively ended his competitive boxing career. Shame we didn't get to see him against some of the better HWs of the time.

Interesting I just checked his wikipedia and Messi claimed the doctors diagnosis was inccorect , so I wonder who was actually right. @sweetviolenturg I know your from around the Buffalo area what are your thoughts on this?

 

[TidWell]

joe messi comes to mind as another guy. he was a huge deal in buffalo, so they made sure to always give him fights he should win. retired 36-0

Joe Mesi was the original Mike Lee lol

 

[IGotAHugePeckah]

Interesting I just checked his wikipedia and Messi claimed the doctors diagnosis was inccorect , so I wonder who was actually right. @sweetviolenturg I know your from around the Buffalo area what are your thoughts on this?

Hmmm, strange...

But another boxer who claimed the doctors diagnosis was incorrect....

 

[RabbitPunch36]

Hmmm, strange...

But another boxer who claimed the doctors diagnosis was incorrect....

<Lmaoo>

 

[sweetviolenturg]

Interesting I just checked his wikipedia and Messi claimed the doctors diagnosis was inccorect , so I wonder who was actually right. @sweetviolenturg I know your from around the Buffalo area what are your thoughts on this?

Yep, Joe & I go back to the very beginnings of his boxing career. In fact, I was a USABF judge at the time of his amateur debut & officiated it back in 1993. The funny thing is, Joe wasn't even the one who was highly thought of back then. It was his brother, Tom who was considered the stud. But, he wound up hanging the gloves up after a couple of fights while Joe stuck with it & went places.
He was a damn good amateur even though he never won a national title. But, that didn't stop him from going to the Olympic Trials & getting to the final boff off round against Lawrence Clay-Bey before losing.
As a pro, he was extremely popular locally & was just beginning to become a draw on the national scene as well. And while his opposition en route to becoming a contender wasn't stellar he fought some decent fighters that were still useful at the time like "T-Bone" Green, Jorge Luis Gonzalez, Bert Cooper & David Izon. Then, once he was ranked in the top ten he fought a murderous puncher in Davvaryl Williamson whom no one else really wanted to face & knocked him out in the first round. Then, he beat the slick Monte Barrett in his backyard at MSG. Something that a protected fighter definitely doesn't do.
Unfortunately, that's where things went completely south for Mesi as he outboxed former cruiserweight champ Vasily Jirov for several rounds before getting dropped hard by a series of punches. Many of which appeared to be behind the head. Joe was hurt badly but he hung on to win a decision but afterward it was discovered that he'd suffered a "minor" brain bleed. as a result of the fight. Which should have been the end of his career.
But, somehow he was able to convince some Indian reservations to allow him to fight a series of bouts against mediocre opposition in a comeback of sorts but he gave it up when he finally accepted that no legitimate athletic commissions would allow him to fight. Meaning that a title fight was out of reach.
Now, of course, there's some revisionist history on his wiki page about a misdiagnosis but I don't believe it. I saw some of his post-injury fights & he just wasn't the same guy. It was clear that he'd been hurt & that any legit heavyweight would've finished him.

 

[IGotAHugePeckah]

Yep, Joe & I go back to the very beginnings of his boxing career. In fact, I was a USABF judge at the time of his amateur debut & officiated it back in 1993. The funny thing is, Joe wasn't even the one who was highly thought of back then. It was his brother, Tom who was considered the stud. But, he wound up hanging the gloves up after a couple of fights while Joe stuck with it & went places.
He was a damn good amateur even though he never won a national title. But, that didn't stop him from going to the Olympic Trials & getting to the final boff off round against Lawrence Clay-Bey before losing.
As a pro, he was extremely popular locally & was just beginning to become a draw on the national scene as well. And while his opposition en route to becoming a contender wasn't stellar he fought some decent fighters that were still useful at the time like "T-Bone" Green, Jorge Luis Gonzalez, Bert Cooper & David Izon. Then, once he was ranked in the top ten he fought a murderous puncher in Davvaryl Williamson whom no one else really wanted to face & knocked him out in the first round. Then, he beat the slick Monte Barrett in his backyard at MSG. Something that a protected fighter definitely doesn't do.
Unfortunately, that's where things went completely south for Mesi as he outboxed former cruiserweight champ Vasily Jirov for several rounds before getting dropped hard by a series of punches. Many of which appeared to be behind the head. Joe was hurt badly but he hung on to win a decision but afterward it was discovered that he'd suffered a "minor" brain bleed. as a result of the fight. Which should have been the end of his career.
But, somehow he was able to convince some Indian reservations to allow him to fight a series of bouts against mediocre opposition in a comeback of sorts but he gave it up when he finally accepted that no legitimate athletic commissions would allow him to fight. Meaning that a title fight was out of reach.
Now, of course, there's some revisionist history on his wiki page about a misdiagnosis but I don't believe it. I saw some of his post-injury fights & he just wasn't the same guy. It was clear that he'd been hurt & that any legit heavyweight would've finished him.
View attachment 629897

Thanks for the insight and yes Touch of Sleep Williamson could bang.

 

[Absolut]

He literally was the great white hope/hype here for awhile. I thought he was a good fighter and came off as a decent guy, but not nearly the force HBO wanted him to be. I didn’t think he’d hang with the elite.

 

[sweetviolenturg]

Thanks for the insight and yes Touch of Sleep Williamson could bang.

Oh, for sure, man.
He was always fun to watch because you never knew whether he was going to knock his opponent out or if his opponent was going to catch him first.

 

[sweetviolenturg]

He literally was the great white hope/hype here for awhile. I thought he was a good fighter and came off as a decent guy, but not nearly the force HBO wanted him to be. I didn’t think he’d hang with the elite.

What? Are you crazy?
He was destined to walk through the Klitschko's & go onto greatness!




Or, so plenty of folks in my native city like to believe. But, I don't believe any such thing. I think that had he stayed healthy there's a chance that he'd have won a belt from a second-tier titlist like an Oleg Maskaev, a John Ruiz, maybe a Brewster or even a Rahman on the right night ( he split a pair of amateur fights with Hasim ). But, beyond that his limitations would had him lose ugly to either Klitschko. Hell, I think even James Toney would have beat him.
I was fairly close to him while he was coming up & he's an amazingly nice guy but I have to be realistic about him.

 

[hillelslovak87]

Yeah that was the fight he suffered the brain bleed after or whatever he had. He came back a few years later and beat a handful of bums but I think that effectively ended his competitive boxing career. Shame we didn't get to see him against some of the better HWs of the time.

I would not want to have to go twelve with Vasilly Jirov. Repeated sharp, but not heavy shots, lumped together 5-8 at a time? Fuck that punch drunk nonsense.

 

[sleepyguard85]

Yep, Joe & I go back to the very beginnings of his boxing career. In fact, I was a USABF judge at the time of his amateur debut & officiated it back in 1993. The funny thing is, Joe wasn't even the one who was highly thought of back then. It was his brother, Tom who was considered the stud. But, he wound up hanging the gloves up after a couple of fights while Joe stuck with it & went places.
He was a damn good amateur even though he never won a national title. But, that didn't stop him from going to the Olympic Trials & getting to the final boff off round against Lawrence Clay-Bey before losing.
As a pro, he was extremely popular locally & was just beginning to become a draw on the national scene as well. And while his opposition en route to becoming a contender wasn't stellar he fought some decent fighters that were still useful at the time like "T-Bone" Green, Jorge Luis Gonzalez, Bert Cooper & David Izon. Then, once he was ranked in the top ten he fought a murderous puncher in Davvaryl Williamson whom no one else really wanted to face & knocked him out in the first round. Then, he beat the slick Monte Barrett in his backyard at MSG. Something that a protected fighter definitely doesn't do.
Unfortunately, that's where things went completely south for Mesi as he outboxed former cruiserweight champ Vasily Jirov for several rounds before getting dropped hard by a series of punches. Many of which appeared to be behind the head. Joe was hurt badly but he hung on to win a decision but afterward it was discovered that he'd suffered a "minor" brain bleed. as a result of the fight. Which should have been the end of his career.
But, somehow he was able to convince some Indian reservations to allow him to fight a series of bouts against mediocre opposition in a comeback of sorts but he gave it up when he finally accepted that no legitimate athletic commissions would allow him to fight. Meaning that a title fight was out of reach.
Now, of course, there's some revisionist history on his wiki page about a misdiagnosis but I don't believe it. I saw some of his post-injury fights & he just wasn't the same guy. It was clear that he'd been hurt & that any legit heavyweight would've finished him.
View attachment 629897

Awesome post

 

[sweetviolenturg]

Awesome post

Thanks, bro. I appreciate you saying so.

 

[MC Paul Barman]

JD Chapman.

As soon as he finally got a major fight... he retired

He had a fight with Haye lined up, ditched the press conference and retired

 

[Woldog]

Most of the couch potatoes here would get knocked out by these guys they're belittling though.

 

[MC Paul Barman]

Most of the couch potatoes here would get knocked out by these guys they're belittling though.

We're probably some of the few fights they'd be willing to take.