Mesi managed to finish the fight on his feet and the bout was scored 94-93 for Mesi by all three judges. In round 9, Mesi was knocked down from a right hook and in the tenth round he was knocked down two more times. The injuries came from a 2004 bout with former cruiserweight champion Vassiliy Jirov. Mesi's promising boxing career was set back greatly when an MRI indicated he had suffered at least one, perhaps two subdural hematomas The foundation was funded in part by admission fees to victory parties. In January 2004, Mesi donated $7,500 to the Golisano Children's Hospital in Rochester, New York as a way of giving back to the Rochester community and to promote an upcoming fight at the Blue Cross Arena, with kidney transplant recipient Dillon Gonzalez and his family in attendance. His cousin, Ganelle Shanor, died in an accident before she was able to receive the operation. In 2002, Mesi started a non-profit to raise awareness about organ donation and transplantation upon finding out his cousin was in need of a kidney transplant, and to help others in the Upstate New York area who needed such surgeries. Joe is still often seen at Bills and Sabres games and also supports many local charities. In Buffalo, for a brief period, Joe was once considered by some to be the city's 'third professional franchise', with the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bills being the other two. Mesi made it all the way to the finals in the 1996 Olympic Trials, but lost to eventual US heavyweight representative Lawrence Clay-Bey. He was a New York State Golden Gloves champion, and as an amateur boxer he defeated future two-time Heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman. He did not start his boxing career until he was about 19 years of age. He attended Sweet Home High School in Amherst, New York. Joe grew up in Tonawanda, New York, a suburb of Buffalo. During his career, he defeated former world champion Vassily Jirov as well as former title challengers Bert Cooper, Monte Barrett, DaVarryl Williamson, and Jorge Luis González. 'Baby' Joe Mesi (born November 27, 1973) is an American retired boxer and Democratic Party politician from Tonawanda, New York.

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