By Rusty Rubin

Baby Joe Mesi makes takes his second comeback fight since his return to the ring in Quebec on Friday. Although he won has last fight, Mesi showed plenty of ring rust and impressed no one...This time he takes on Daniel Frank, so you can expect him to win and impress no one again.

On Saturday in Las Vegas, Calvin Brock takes on Russian Timur Ibragimov in what could be an interesting heavyweight contest. But it does not hold much interest for me. I have little interest in today’s group of heavyweights. And for a prediction, take Brock to stop the Russian midway.

My apologies to those who caught and corrected me on Jermain Taylor’s home town. He is from Little Rock Ark. not Louisville KY. Guess I’m getting old.

And the hometown edge may have made all the difference in the outcome of the Taylor – Winky Wright draw. A very close and exciting fight and a rematch should be mandated.

I had the fight very close, as Jermain refused to listen to newly hired trainer Emanuel Steward and instead of battling at ring center, he preferred to neutralize his own jab by fighting off the ropes. Taylor is young and has talent, but why he was determined not to learn from one of the best (Steward) is beyond my comprehension.

And why did Taylor wait until the late rounds to start using his reach advantage (jab)?

Simply put this fight featured a fight wise Winky Wright against a green champion who wouldn’t listen to his corner.

Agree or disagree, we’d like to hear from you. (Rngsportsr@aol.com).

Glove2Glove:

Former top light heavyweight fighter Mike Quarry, brother of late heavyweight Jerry, and a solid boxer in his won right who has passed. Away. Prayers for his soul are requested..

Patti Brandenburg continues to have health problems and continues to need your help via prayers.

Prayer for the return to health to the father of Eva Futch, a great friend, and the widow of legendary trainer Eddie, who passed away in 2001. Eva’s father’s cancer has returned and recent surgeries have proved successful, but he still has a long way to go. And please pray that Eva has the strength to cope with this difficult challenge she faces at so close to her having lost her esteemed husband.

Prayers for Mae Sebastian, who is fighting a serious illness. Mae is the wife of Gene Sebastian, who gave Tom Donelson and myself the info needed to write the book “Billy Soose, The Champion Time Forgot”.

Prayers needed for Elise Brown, grand daughter of Ringside Products head honcho and good boxing guy John Brown. Young Elise has heart problems.

Prayers have also helped but continue to be needed for Dennis Wilcox, brother of boxing scribe David Wilcox, who is in an Oregon hospital suffering from Leukemia. The family and everyone at Glove2Glove ask for your prayers for his total recovery.

Prayers for the return to health of Audrey Talmo, wife of Ed, a long-time boxing fan who cares about our sport.

Please say prayers for the return to health of Helen Wambolt, wife of our East Coast World Boxing Hall of Fame writer Danny Wambolt. Cards will also be most welcome.***

Please say prayers for the recovery of good friend and great boxing guy Norm Cote, Past President of the World Boxing Hall of Fame, who is undergoing dialysis three times a week. Norm’s a fighter and we have to be there in his corner.

Prayers also for former World Boxing Hall of Fame Presidents Dub Harris and Charlie Casas who are having some severe health problems as well.

Prayers for the soul of Mike Quarry former boxer and brother of Jerry Quarry, heavyweight contender, who passed away a few years back. Mike set up a foundation to help those afflicted with Alzheimer’s which Jerry suffered from.

Prayers for the return to health of Don Donelson, father of writer Tom, and Gene Sebastian, brother of former middleweight champ Billy Soose. Both are suffering from congestive heart disease.

Please say prayers for Phill Grazide of Santa Rosa, CA. a big supporter of amateur boxing, who is suffering the crippling effects of rheumatoid arthritis.***

Needless to say we need prayers for the return to health of both former champs Greg Page and Gerald McClellan, both confined to wheelchairs.***

Glove2Glove is a non-denominational group set up to aide those boxing folks and their relatives in need of prayers and cards. We accept no money and only contact our members when someone is in need. It’s absolutely free to join. Simply send us your e-mail address. And even if you’re not a member, feel free to contact us if you are aware of some boxing person in need.***

Touching on politics briefly: I know that the House of Representatives are doing their job by voting to not name a date certain for a pullout of American troops from Iraq.

These are the same Congressmen who also blocked the giveaway of our ports to Dubai, and the amnesty program for illegal aliens.

Full credit to these guys who are certainly representing my points of view, but I must talk of my concern that those who vote for these issues may decide to switch to partisan politics after the November congressional elections.

Who is going to hold them accountable for vote switching the next time the issue comes up? Hopefully the American people will do just that.

A third major party would also do the trick, but we’re two years away from that at the very least.

And as for the pullout timetable issue, it is the first time I’ve found myself in agreement with Hillary Clinton. And that’s scary, as I flat out don’t trust or like her.

What I’d like to see is a date certain set, but that date be known only to our President, Vice President and Secretary of Defense, and that date can be changed if needed by the powers that be.

I still maintain that we should have left after the President’s ‘mission accomplished’ speech, but we didn’t and we have to support our boys who are risking life and limb in the slow slog that is Iraq.

Iraq is a mess and while we can’t give support to our enemy by naming a pull out date, we can take heart that America will survive and remain the strongest country in the world, not because of our elected leaders, but because America has the best and most dedicated fighting men and women in the world.

Agree, disagree or just want to help? I’d love to hear from you. (Rusty@ringsports.com)