Mesi lends name to
‘Beatdown’ card

By Miguel Rodriguez
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS

Joe Mesi has insisted for years that Buffalo is a fight town, but now he’s not the only one who shares that belief.

That’s why you’ve probably seen the former No. 1 heavyweight contender starring in a television commercial supporting the upcoming “Buffalo Beatdown” card.

While Mesi has no official affiliation to X-Cel Worldwide Productions — which is promoting the six-fight card Friday night in the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center — there’s a good reason he’s aiding X-Cel President Nick Garone’s quest to attract people to the event that’s scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.

Before Garone decided to take the gamble to hold cards in Western New York, there had been no professional boxing events in the Queen City for nearly six years.

The drought ended last February when Garone staged the “Return of Buffalo Boxing” card at the Convention Center. Before that, Garone copromoted a card last November in Niagara Falls at the Seneca Niagara Casino Events Center.

For better or worse, Garone has embarked on his quest to prove the area has boxing supporters not just

Baby Joe Mesi fans—a perilous proposition considering boxing promoters are all about making wads of money without taking high risks.

“I think that simply it’s about time somebody recognizes Buffalo is and always has been a fight town,” Mesi said. “It’s not like the 1930s, 40s or 50s when Buffalo was a mecca for boxing. However, there are boxing fans here.”

It seems like Garone is committed to providing boxing fans in the area with chances to see the sport live. Three cards in the past seven months in the area is more than just a passing fancy since promoters don’t get rich organizing small non-televised shows.

Why is Garone — who hopes to hold another card locally in the fall— interested in forming a relationship with an area that hasn’t attracted any promotions since Mesi’s career was derailed in 2004 by bleeding of the brain and a lengthy court fight with the Nevada Boxing Commission?

“I see it as an opportunity to create, No. 1, some really cool events up there and, No. 2, bring some boxing back to the area which has been lacking,” said Garone, who is married to a Niagara Falls native and splits his time between Long Island and Youngstown. “The motto really is once you’ve got the ball and the momentum going is to keep it going. That’s the reason why this thing has been repetitive so at least the fans and the people in the community and the area know that I’m serious and know that I’m not just a one-hit wonder.”

“He’s here for the duration,” said Niagara Falls trainer Ray Casal, who’s worked as a corner man on Garone’s shows. “Hopefully the fans will come out this time and support the show.”

Garone’s cards likely won’t come close to approaching the numbers Mesi drew in his prime, but filling smaller venues with at least 2,000 fans is feasible, according to Mesi.

“That was kind of a fluke, a freak thing, which happened in my career,” said Mesi, who drew more than 10,000 for his final three fights in HSBC Arena, including more than 16,000 in an Oct. 18, 2002 win over David Izon. “I mean [that many] fans at HSBC Arena is unique for a boxing fight. I was as surprised as anyone with [that].”

Garone’s card in Niagara Falls, which was televised by Corporate Sponsors International — a network that specializes in boxing and mixed martial arts — attracted a sellout crowd of 2,000. Garone, who managed former middleweight title contender Ross Thompson of Buffalo from 1999-2003, drew 1,500 last winter for a non-televised card at a Convention Center set up to hold around 2,800.

The turnout was OK, considering there wasn’t too much advertising besides word of mouth and media reports, but Garone wants to get closer to 2,000 Friday, also a non-televised card.

So he turned to Mesi—the face all Western New York boxing fans still know — to make it happen.

“That was one of the things that was a blessing to this whole situation was the fact I had a lot of local business people that were interested and really big fans of the fight game,” said Garone, who has also managed Monte Barrett and Michael Grant since breaking into the professional boxing world in 1996. “They’re supporting me with advertising and helping me out with the dollars and making sure everybody knows about it.

“I think a lot of the people in the area see that nobody else is doing anything and I’m making an effort and these guys have really gotten behind me.”

For tickets, visit championsofboxing.com or call (877) 772-5425.

sports@buffnews.com