LAS VEGAS -- A panel of medical experts Monday recommended
heavyweight Joe Mesi stop boxing after he suffered bleeding on the
brain during a brutal fight last year.
"You're at significant risk of cranial injury and dying in the
ring," said neurosurgeon Dr. Albert Capanna before the Nevada
athletic Medical Advisory Board voted unanimously not to lift a
medical suspension for the unbeaten Mesi.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission will consider the
recommendation next month and decide whether the 31-year-old Mesi,
who was the WBC's top-ranked contender at 29-0, can fight again.
If the commission issues a lifetime suspension, other states
would have to honor the ban.
The board members voiced serious concerns that there was a
chance the Buffalo, N.Y., native could experience another subdural
hematoma, and they wondered what would happen when he entered the
ring again to face bigger and more powerful competition.
They heard evidence that Mesi might have had up to three
subdural hematomas -- two during the bruising 10-round unanimous
decision victory over Vassiliy Jirov in March 2004, and one when he
tried to lift a heavy dresser a few weeks later.
Dr. Robert Cantu, chief of neurosurgery at Emerson Hospital in
Concord, Mass., testified on behalf of Mesi. He said Mesi suffered
only a small amount of bleeding on the brain but added later that
"subdural bleeding is nothing to be taken lightly."
Asked by the board if there was any reason why Mesi should not
be allowed back into the ring, Cantu responded: "I know of none."
Cantu said Mesi was at no greater risk to suffer another
subdural hematoma than before his bout with Jirov, who knocked Mesi
down three times in the final two rounds.
But the board said there weren't any studies to support or
dispute that assertion.
Mesi testified that he was fine and would never risk his health
for a payday. Mesi said he wouldn't have come to the hearing if he
wasn't 100 percent healthy and ready to fight.
"My health and my principals are more important than money and
success," Mesi said. "I don't want to see a boxer die."
Mesi's pleading didn't sway the board.
"I don't want to read about him in an obituary," Dr. Jeffrey
Parker said.