NEW YORK, Dec. 1 --­ On July 10, 1950, Rocky Marciano, a 27-year-old prospect from Brockton, Mass., took on Gino Buonvino at Braves Field in Boston. After a tougher than expected bout, Marciano finally stopped Buonvino in the 10th round.

The post-fight reports were less than kind to the "Brockton Blockbuster", and as noted in Russell Sullivan's "Rocky Marciano: The Rock of His Times", the Boston Traveler's Arthur Siegel wrote not only that the heavyweight division was "a stinker", but that Marciano was nothing more than "a good club fighter."

It was Rocky Marciano's 28th fight. This "good club fighter" would go on to win the heavyweight championship and 21 more fights en route to retiring with a perfect 49-0 record.

On Saturday night, at Madison Square Garden, unbeaten Joe Mesi, who made his pro debut 50 years after "The Rock", competes in his 28th fight against Monte Barrett. And like Marciano, Mesi has been denigrated as nothing but a "good club fighter" in a "stinker" of a heavyweight division.

Could lightning possibly be striking twice?

"Joe, when I look at you I see so much of my brother Rocky," said Peter Marciano, brother of Rocky, at a press conference held in Vincent's Restaurant in Little Italy. "The qualities, the looks, and from what Lou (Duva) has told me, you've got the ingredients to become a Rocky Marciano. If there's ever a guy that we want to break the record of 49-0, you're the guy that we want to do it."

Sure it's far-fetched, and even Mesi believes Marciano's 49-0 record may never be touched, but for a moment today, you got the impression that maybe "Baby Joe" does have the stuff to carry the division over the next few years, despite his lack of size and his less than monstrous competition thus far.

If anything, the Buffalo native has the confidence of a champion, and that's the first step. At least it was for Marciano, who truly stepped into the big time a year after the first Buonvino fight (he later won in two over the Italian) with a six round KO of the favored Rex Layne. And as he approached the bigger fights, Marciano wanted nothing more than to prove himself on a bigger stage.

"He wanted so much to look good because it was the time when he was getting into the big time," said brother Lou (Sonny) Marciano. "The name fighters are wanting to see how good you are. He had great confidence in his ability and he was so determined and trained so hard that he reached a point where he knew that he was ready and that he would definitely go all the way."

It was that mental toughness and will to win that pushed Marciano to the heights of the sport despite his physical shortcomings (Marciano, 5-11, fought in his prime from 185 to 205). For Mesi (27-0, 25 KOs), it's going to take the same type of grace under pressure against substantial odds to move up the ranks. Mesi's father and manager Jack, a Buffalo police detective who knows a thing or two about toughness under fire, knew early on what he had in 'Baby Joe'.

"I'm the father," smiled the elder Mesi. "I knew when he was three years old that he could take this kind of pressure. Joe was made for this. One thing I know about my son is that he's got big shoulders and he can handle pressure. He's a real man. He's well grounded and he's honored to have these opportunities. He's got a self-pride, a dignity about himself. These are all things a father wants to be able to say about his son. I'm very proud of him."

And he must be confident in him to bring him into the kind of scene that took place today - not only having the Marciano family in attendance, but to have the event held in the heart of New York's Italian-American community in Little Italy. It's the kind of stuff that can blow up in your face if Saturday's fight turns out to be a bust, and for Mesi, it's something he has had to get used to.

"I didn't know I could take it," said Mesi of the pressure of being not only a heavyweight contender, but also the expected savior of Buffalo and savior of boxing. "He (father Jack) knew, but I didn't know what I was getting into. It kind of grew on me and I got accustomed to it more and more. Now I think I'm made for it. I'm made to deal with the people, I'm made to deal with the pressure inside the ring, and I can handle it. A lot of athletes can't. But I think I'm made for this sport and this is what I've been put on the earth to do."

He is good for the sport. Personable, always smiling, and as good with the media as he is with his fists, Mesi is comfortable in his role. But going back to the Marciano comparisons - for an Italian-American, that's a big deal.

"My father fought for the 1929 National championship, and his greatest love was Rocky," remembered Jack Mesi. "When Rocky died I remember my father crying his eyes out in his big chair all day long. Watching him cry made me cry because my father was so hurt."

The elder Mesi had to stop a couple of times during his comments to gather himself, and having a father of my own with the same love for 'The Rock', it was totally understandable. Joe Mesi smiled when I asked him if he had a shrine in the house to the former heavyweight champ (Don't laugh, as Marciano is a close third to the Virgin Mary and either St. Anthony or St. Francis in many households).

"It was similar," said the unbeaten heavyweight. "I missed the whole Marciano era, but because my grandfather and uncle were boxers and huge boxing fans, I was a fan. My whole life I've had footage of Marciano, I've been reading about him, I still have tapes that I pop in from time to time, and ESPN Classic has things on Marciano from time to time, which I love. And yeah, I do have some pictures, a little corner just for Marciano. That's why it's such a thrill for me."

Mesi will be bringing the Buffalo faithful with him into the Garden on Saturday, and with ticket sales already close to 10,000 sold, it will be one of those nights where the entire building will shake when the action heats up. It's the type of night that will make the old-timers remember the heyday of the heavyweights, though to Lou Marciano, today's crop isn't that bad, and in fact, a few of today's big boys would make his brother smile.

"There's nothing wrong with the heavyweights today," said Marciano. "I'm sure he (Rocky) would have been impressed with some of them."

He probably would have been impressed with Joe Mesi so far too. Sure, the 30-year-old hasn't gotten close to fighting elite opposition yet, but he's got talent, and has been brought along at a pace in which he has not only built an unbeaten record, but a following that may be the envy of every fighter. And according to Jack Mesi, everything is right on schedule.

"If you follow the career paths of some of the greatest fighters of our time, there are guys along the way that people had second thoughts about," he said. "If you follow his career path and compare it to Tyson or even 'The Rock', who fought Joe Louis when Joe was an older guy, we've followed a proven path that many of the great fighters have followed. There's only one or two ways to the title, and we're on one of those routes. We shouldn't get any criticism for it."

He will, but that comes with the territory. And it's true - there were questions about every fighter worth his salt. It's those who can answer emphatically with wins against the best opponents, against adversity, and against their own doubts, who go on to be great. Lou Marciano used to ask his brother Rocky what he was going to do against certain opponents. The answer was short and to the point.

"Don't ever question what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna win."