Brinkley-Stevens for ESPN!

Brinkley-Stevens for ESPN!

Mark E. Ortega

FightFanNation.com

November 24, 2009

Super middleweight Jesse Brinkley [34-5, IBF #6] of Yerington, Nevada will meet Curtis Stevens [21-2, IBF #10] January 29^th in an important super middleweight battle that could position the winner for a future IBF title shot. The bout will be televised on ESPN's Friday Night Fights, possibly at the Grand Sierra Resort in nearby Reno, Nevada, where Brinkley will enjoy a homefield advantage.

Brinkley is riding an eight-bout win streak dating back to June of 2007, picking up the WBC USNBC super middleweight title in the process. His last bout, a light heavyweight scrap against Mike Paschall, was a lot closer than Brinkley wanted it to be, but he gutted out the decision in the last few rounds of a very close fight. Previous to that bout, Brinkley ballooned up to nearly 200 pounds and had to drop the weight with about three weeks of preparation. Following the win, Brinkley's promoter, Let's Get It On Promotions, stated that Brinkley would return to super middleweight..

Curtis Stevens, formerly one of the brightest prospects in the sport as one half of “The Chin Checkers” [with now retired Jaidon Codrington], is coming off of three straight wins since being beaten by Andre Dirrell in an ugly fight on television. Stevens put himself back in the rankings with a win over 22-0 Polish prospect Piotr Wilczweski this past July by third-round TKO.

With six of the top fighters at 168 locked up in Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic, a win could position either fighter for a shot at the IBF super middleweight crown.

That title is currently held by Lucian Bute, who is defending it this Saturday on HBO against #1 contender Librado Andrade in a rematch of their controversial October 2008 bout that saw Bute survive a 12^th round knockdown to hold onto his title.

The undercard will feature a variety of prospects from the Reno area, including Derek and Tyler Hinkey. The card will be promoted by Let's Get It On Promotions in association with Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing.