?Then fall, Caesar!??Julius Caesar, Act III, scene i
Granted, not many have fallen to the massive fists of one of my favorite journeymen, Stephane ?Brutus? Tessier?three of 35, to be exact.
Heavyweight Tessier?s three victories came in 2005, the year he turned pro, beating Cornell Bradbury by unanimous decision in April, stopping Daniel Desrosiers by third-round TKO in August, and defeating Patrick Cote by majority decision in October. Desrosiers and Cote?s respective bouts with Tessier were their one and only pro fights. Nicknaming the latter ?The Predator? was?premature.
The 39-year-old Canadian (3-30-2, 1 KO) hasn?t fought since February of this year, when he lost to Steven Harvey by split decision. He had three fights last year, losing to Oscar Rivas in April (he was a last-minute replacement for Rivas? original opponent, Kendrick Releford) and Didier Bence in June, both via unanimous decision, and drawing against Taffo Asongwed in September. His other draw came against Martin Hudon in 2008.
Tessier?s most significant opponent to date is Alexander Povetkin, to whom he lost by unanimous decision in 2005.
Brutus reminds me of my all-time favorite boxer, thickset Tony Galento. Not in skill, but in durability (and, okay, appearance)?durability, toughness, and relentlessness.
In fact, Tessier?s 2012 fight with Rivas, to whom he also lost by unanimous decision in 2009, brings to mind The Mummy (pick your version) even more than it does ?Two Ton.? I?m referring, in particular, to the scene where the sole surviving Egyptologist, rudely intruded upon in his elegantly appointed study, unloads both barrels of a shotgun into the dusty torso of his implacable and undead foe. Imhotep (or Kharis) totters, but does not fall. His hand soon upon the professor?s Eton collar, the Mummy is distracted from his homicidal intentions by the appearance of the archaeologist?s lovely and attired-for-bed fianc?e (portrayed by Yvonne Furneaux, perhaps), who bears a striking and of course fortuitous resemblance to the Mummy?s long-dead love, Anck-su-namun (or Ananka).
Okay, that?s not quite what happened in Rivas vs. Tessier II. After all, it?s not as though some ring card girl stopped ?Kaboom? from winning the bout. In fact, the Colombian knocked Tessier down in the early going. Still, Brutus didn?t taste canvas in the other five rounds, despite his impressive impersonation of a punching bag.
Rivas remains undefeated, though he hasn?t fought since December 2012, stopping Laszlo Peczeli by first-round KO. He?s incomparably superior to Tessier, but his ability to take shotgun blasts without going down (anyway, not more than once) has yet to be determined.
