NEW YORK -- Outside, it was white, the snow turning Manhattan into a big white blanket. But inside Madison Square Garden, before 10,823 screaming fans, it was all blue and yellow -- and with good reason.

The Ukraine's favorite son, Vitali Klitschko, set himself up as the legitimate No. 1 contender to the heavyweight crown with an impressive second-round stoppage of Kirk Johnson.

	Klitschko hopes his next win will be as heavyweight champ.

With the victory, Klitschko -- in his first bout since his valiant defeat at the hands of Lennox Lewis in June -- raises his record to 33-2, 32 KOs. Johnson, who came into the fight at a career-high 260 pounds, drops to 34-2-1 with 25 KOs.

Needless to say, Klitschko's badly cut left eye, suffered in the Lewis fight, did not play a factor Saturday.

Johnson came out fast to open the bout, possibly hoping to work off his visible gut, but it was Klitschko calmly repelling Captain Kirk with an extended left jab, almost always followed by a swooping right hand. And though Johnson absorbed all of Klitschko's bombs early, he was unable to get close to the Ukrainian giant.

In the second, Johnson again appeared to hang in tough with Klitschko until suddenly, in the closing third of the round, "Dr. Ironfist" started to lower the boom.

Caught in the corner, Johnson went down from a barrage of blows, bringing the pro-Klitschko crowd to its feet. Johnson rose and attempted to fight back, but another series of crushing shots sent the Nova Scotia native to the floor, where referee Arthur Mercante Jr. wisely halted the bout at 2:54 of the second round.

Barrett drops 'Baby Joe'

Highly hyped Joe Mesi may have brought the Buffalo weather with him, but it was Monte Barrett who brought the storm in the ring, dropping "Baby Joe" and sweeping the late rounds before losing a razor-thin majority decision to the still-unbeaten contender.

Scores were 95-93, 94-93, and 94-94 for Mesi, who lifts his record to 28-0 with 25 KOs. Barrett drops to 29-3 with 16 KOs.

Mesi, coming off two first round knockout wins over Robert Davis and DaVarryl Williamson, came into the fight anointed by everyone from HBO to the Marciano family as the next big thing. And he may still be.

But in the first gut-check of his young career, he showed that he's got a ways to go before tackling the division's elite.

"Monte is a slick fighter and more experienced than I am," said Mesi.

The bout was a tale of two halves.

After a slow opening two minutes in round one, Mesi started to close the distance on Barrett, landing two scoring shots that jarred the Queens native. Again in the second, it was Mesi's superior hand speed that proved to be the difference, with a straight right leaving Barrett briefly rubber-kneed.

Barrett hung tough in the third and fourth rounds and Mesi, measuring his foe for a one-punch finisher, ate some leather consistently for the first time in the bout.

In the fifth, a tiring Barrett got caught with a stiff right hand and was sent sprawling into the ropes for a knockdown, bringing the crowd to life. But with Barrett unhurt, Mesi was unable to capitalize.

With his legs starting to betray him, Barrett was nailed by a clean right hand late in the sixth round and he wobbled visibly before using his veteran guile in last the round.

But just when the end seemed near, Barrett scored a flash knockdown on Mesi in the seventh via a short left hand. Mesi, embarrassed by the trip to the canvas, charged in on Barrett and caught a series of clean punches from "Two Gunz" for his trouble, and suddenly this was a fight again.

"I've never been knocked down before, and I'll learn from this," said Mesi. "I hate to say it, but I needed to get knocked down."

Continuing his good fortune, the rallying Barrett drilled a backpedaling Mesi repeatedly in the eighth, sending sweat flying from the head of the Buffalo native, and suddenly making him look very ordinary.

Mesi kept moving backward under the pressure of the stalking Barrett in the ninth, his left eye was swelling badly, and after another dismal ninth round, all the momentum in the fight was firmly in Barrett's corner come the final round, and it was the crowd chanting 'Monte, Monte' as the two slugged it out in the tenth.

Both had their moments in the final frame, and though Mesi had landed his share of potshots from long-range, it was Barrett doing the most damage by fight's end. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late on the scorecards.

MSG Undercard

There was little grudge-match emotion stirred in with the bad-blood showdown between junior welterweights Paul Malignaggi and Paul Delgado. But despite fighting with a re-injured right hand, "The Magic Man" did more than enough to score a lopsided eight round unanimous decision in the lead-in to the co-main events.

"With the first right hand I threw in the eighth, I hurt my hand and I basically just danced with him for the eight round," said Malignaggi.

Scores were 80-72 and 79-73 twice for Malignaggi, who ups his unbeaten slate to 16-0 with 5 KOs. Atlanta's Delgado, who dropped a close decision to Malignaggi last year, drops to 9-3-1 with 2 KOs.

Duva Boxing's junior welterweight hope Kendall Holt (14-0, 10 KOs) was unimpressive in scoring a majority eight-round decision over tough-as-nails John Trigg (11-26-5, 3 KOs). Outhustled by the rugged Trigg, Holt's superior counterpunching skills allowed him to take the verdict by scores of 78-74 twice, and 76-76.

"I need to fight some people equal to my abilities," said Holt. "My corner told me he was going to come after me, but I ended up chasing him all over the ring."

Despite a point deduction for low blows and some shaky defensive moments, perennial light heavyweight prospect Elvir Muriqi (28-1, 17 KOs) gutted out a majority eight round decision over Tennessee journeyman Thomas Reid (30-12-1, 12 KOs). Scores were 76-75, 77-72, and 75-75 for the "Kosovo Kid."

"It wasn't me in there," said Muriqi. "I did feel great before the fight, but no excuses. He was hitting me with a lot of good shots even though he wasn't throwing that much. I just couldn't counter with my right."

Unbeaten New York super middleweight Victor Paz (2-0) kept the home folks happy with a shutout (40-36 three times) four-round decision over Miami's Andres Larrinaga (3-13-2, 2 KOs).

In the opener, Antonio Espinosa (2-0) outpointed Jean Seme in a super featherweight four rounder. All three judges scored it 40-36.

Notes

Despite the blizzard that hit the New York area Friday and Saturday, 10,823 fans braved the elements. More than 12,000 tickets were sold for the first fight in the big house since Hopkins-Trinidad in 2001.