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Heavyweight boxer wins Nevada court fight to get back into ring
Ken Ritter - Associated Press
LAS VEGAS -- Heavyweight fighter Joe Mesi, sidelined since suffering bleeding on the brain after a 2004 bout, won a chance Monday to return to the ring when a state judge ruled his medical suspension expired when his Nevada boxing license expired.
Mesi, 32, said he and his father and manager, Jack Mesi, plan to go to Puerto Rico to train for a comeback fight, although they don't have an opponent or a particular venue in mind.
"I'm going to be happy to put the gloves back on again and box again," the Buffalo, N.Y.-based fighter said moments after the ruling. "I'm happy it's over. It's been a long, dreadful roller coaster ride these last two years."
In a ruling that Nevada boxing regulators said will shake up fight licensing in Nevada, Clark County District Court Judge Douglas Herndon ruled the Nevada Athletic Commission had no jurisdiction to enforce Mesi's suspension once Mesi's Nevada boxing license expired last Dec. 31.
The judge also said that having a license gave the boxer a property right that required the commission to follow due process rules before banning him from the ring.
But the judge didn't fault the state for suspending Mesi for medical reasons after Mesi suffered at least two subdural hematomas in winning a unanimous decision against Vassiliy Jirov in Las Vegas in March 2004.
"Nothing would lead me to reverse (the commission) decision," Herndon said. "But I cannot see how the suspension can outlive the license."
Marc Ratner, the Athletic Commission's executive director, said state boxing regulators will have to rewrite rules ensuring that boxers who fight late in the calendar year don't fight again before they are medically or physically ready.
Ratner said the ruling might allow boxers whose licenses expire to circumvent a state prohibition against fighting more than once in 30 days or if they are injured.
Boxing safety in Nevada has become an acute issue this year, following the deaths in Las Vegas of boxers Martin Sanchez in July and Leavander Johnson in September. It was the first time since 1933 that two fighters died in Nevada in the same year. Two other boxers suffered brain bleeding this year, officials said Monday.
Keith Kizer, the deputy state attorney general who represented the commission, said officials would have to decide whether to appeal Herndon's ruling to the Nevada Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Mesi is free to fight. He was 29-0 and was the World Boxing Council's top-ranked contender when he was sidelined.
"I took the tests. All the requirements have been met. I'm healthy," he said Monday, adding that he thought it would take a year and several fights before he regained championship form.
Mesi went to court after the Athletic Commission ruled in June that he failed to convince the panel that he was fit for competition as a boxer in Nevada.
Mesi's Buffalo-based lawyer, Paul Cambria, argued medical evidence showed Mesi was healthy to fight again. Four neurologists testified that Mesi was in good health and was neither in danger nor at increased risk of sustaining more brain bleeding.
Cambria called the commission ruling "arbitrary and capricious," and said it effectively put Mesi out of work in all 50 states.
"Joe Mesi was a $100 million enterprise as a No. 1 WBC contender," Cambria said Monday. "He cannot practice his profession. But if (the suspension) is lifted, we can go to the 49 other states."
Federal law prohibits boxers suspended in one state from fighting in another.
Mesi's lawyer also said that if Mesi applies for another boxing license in Nevada, the state Athletic Commission should treat him as a new applicant instead of a suspended one.
Ken Ritter - Associated Press
LAS VEGAS -- Heavyweight fighter Joe Mesi, sidelined since suffering bleeding on the brain after a 2004 bout, won a chance Monday to return to the ring when a state judge ruled his medical suspension expired when his Nevada boxing license expired.
Mesi, 32, said he and his father and manager, Jack Mesi, plan to go to Puerto Rico to train for a comeback fight, although they don't have an opponent or a particular venue in mind.
"I'm going to be happy to put the gloves back on again and box again," the Buffalo, N.Y.-based fighter said moments after the ruling. "I'm happy it's over. It's been a long, dreadful roller coaster ride these last two years."
In a ruling that Nevada boxing regulators said will shake up fight licensing in Nevada, Clark County District Court Judge Douglas Herndon ruled the Nevada Athletic Commission had no jurisdiction to enforce Mesi's suspension once Mesi's Nevada boxing license expired last Dec. 31.
The judge also said that having a license gave the boxer a property right that required the commission to follow due process rules before banning him from the ring.
But the judge didn't fault the state for suspending Mesi for medical reasons after Mesi suffered at least two subdural hematomas in winning a unanimous decision against Vassiliy Jirov in Las Vegas in March 2004.
"Nothing would lead me to reverse (the commission) decision," Herndon said. "But I cannot see how the suspension can outlive the license."
Marc Ratner, the Athletic Commission's executive director, said state boxing regulators will have to rewrite rules ensuring that boxers who fight late in the calendar year don't fight again before they are medically or physically ready.
Ratner said the ruling might allow boxers whose licenses expire to circumvent a state prohibition against fighting more than once in 30 days or if they are injured.
Boxing safety in Nevada has become an acute issue this year, following the deaths in Las Vegas of boxers Martin Sanchez in July and Leavander Johnson in September. It was the first time since 1933 that two fighters died in Nevada in the same year. Two other boxers suffered brain bleeding this year, officials said Monday.
Keith Kizer, the deputy state attorney general who represented the commission, said officials would have to decide whether to appeal Herndon's ruling to the Nevada Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Mesi is free to fight. He was 29-0 and was the World Boxing Council's top-ranked contender when he was sidelined.
"I took the tests. All the requirements have been met. I'm healthy," he said Monday, adding that he thought it would take a year and several fights before he regained championship form.
Mesi went to court after the Athletic Commission ruled in June that he failed to convince the panel that he was fit for competition as a boxer in Nevada.
Mesi's Buffalo-based lawyer, Paul Cambria, argued medical evidence showed Mesi was healthy to fight again. Four neurologists testified that Mesi was in good health and was neither in danger nor at increased risk of sustaining more brain bleeding.
Cambria called the commission ruling "arbitrary and capricious," and said it effectively put Mesi out of work in all 50 states.
"Joe Mesi was a $100 million enterprise as a No. 1 WBC contender," Cambria said Monday. "He cannot practice his profession. But if (the suspension) is lifted, we can go to the 49 other states."
Federal law prohibits boxers suspended in one state from fighting in another.
Mesi's lawyer also said that if Mesi applies for another boxing license in Nevada, the state Athletic Commission should treat him as a new applicant instead of a suspended one.
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