Miranda gets shot while Brinkley has to wait

Miranda gets shot while Brinkley has to wait

Mark E. Ortega

FightFanNation.com

February 18, 2010

When Jesse Brinkley gutted out a twelve round unanimous decision victory over Curtis Stevens a few weeks ago in an exciting headlining bout televised by ESPN's Friday Night Fights in Reno, Nevada, it was supposed to be enough to earn him a title shot against IBF 168-pound champion Lucian Bute in April.

And it should have been.

Instead, it will be world title retread Edison Miranda who will meet Bute in Montreal on April 17^th in a bout that will be televised by HBO, likely as the co-featured bout to a Kelly Pavlik-Sergio Martinez middleweight title fight that will take place in Youngstown as part of a split-site telecast.

This is the same Edison Miranda who has already been vanquished by Arthur Abraham, Kelly Pavlik, and Andre Ward in previous step-up opportunities. Granted, those are all world class names but Miranda has failed to beat a legitimate top ten contender since his 2007 unanimous decision victory over Allan Green, which was also televised by HBO and was by most accounts an uninteresting bout.

Speaking of Allan Green, he has earned [or more appropriately, has been awarded] a spot in the Showtime Super Six World Boxing Classic when Jermain Taylor pulled out following his twelfth round knockout loss to Abraham in the first stage of the tournament last October. Green has yet to beat a legitimate top ten contender, although he was supposed to meet Sakio Bika this month in a box off to earn his spot before Bika pulled out citing visa problems.

Bika is another guy that hasn't beaten a contender in years yet he is someone whose name is being thrown around concerning bigger fights at 168 pounds. He was being considered as an opponent for Bute for that April date, which is ludicrous considering Bika was thoroughly outclassed by a much less polished Bute back in a 2007 ESPN televised bout. Obviously HBO brass missed that one.

What Miranda and Bika lack in impressive recent credentials they make up for in juice in the sport. Miranda has Goossen-Tutor Promotions behind him, as they are perhaps the next biggest promoter in the States behind Top Rank and Golden Boy. Since signing with Goossen, Miranda has fought one bout since being shutout by Andre Ward last May, an untelevised one-round knockout of an unheralded Mexican Francisco Sierra. That victory was enough to earn Miranda a title shot against WBO champion Robert Stieglitz in January, but Miranda pulled out with little more than a week to go because of a flu. Now Miranda will get another shot, this time under the bright lights of HBO.

Many will argue that Miranda is also a more recognizable name than Brinkley, which definitely can be debated. Miranda has fought on the big stage a number of times. His first appearance was a December 2006 first-round knockout of Willie Gibbs on Boxing After Dark. Three months later he bested Green by decision on BAD again. In his next appearance he was brutalized by Pavlik in seven rounds on HBO World Championship Boxing, but the fight was exciting enough that after putting together two victories on ESPN he got a shot at redemption against Arthur Abraham on Showtime. He was never really in that fight as King Arthur demolished Pantera in four. Two more victories against C-level opponents followed and he got a shot against Andre Ward on Showtime. Miranda didn't win a round in most people's eyes as Ward outclassed him en route to a twelve-round decision. That's three times that Miranda has failed on the big stage since December of 2006 yet here he is again with a chance to pull a victory off.

A Miranda victory is something very few people expect, including Miranda himself. Always the brashest of fighters, at a press conference to announce the fight with Bute, Miranda was much more reserved and sounded like a challenger with no shot:

“I come to fight. I come to win. I have nothing against Bute. I will prepare myself. I may not win, but I guarantee you will all be very happy (ticket purchasers).”

As far as Sakio Bika goes, what he has going for him the most lies in his advisor, Al Haymon. Haymon is perhaps the most influential person on what fights HBO accepts, as he currently guides the careers of many of the top fighters in the world and has earned notoriety for landing them fights on big networks against low-risk opponents.

Brinkley has neither a big time promoter or advisor, but has instead grinded his way to the top the old fashioned way, by winning. Brinkley is on a nine bout win streak and has rarely lost a round in any of those contests. He has done most of it out of the limelight of mainstream television, with bouts against Mike Paschall and Joey Gilbert being televised by Comcast Sportsnet. His victory over Stevens was his first foray into ESPN television since his loss to Robin Reid in 2007, so many of those familiar with Brinkley heading into his January bout were predicted an early exit. Brinkley proved to be a higher class fighter than the one who came straight out of The Contender as he thoroughly outclassed Stevens in a fight that he was a two-to-one underdog at the venue that hosted the bout.

Brinkley and his team will likely sit on their ranking until an opportunity arises where they get a shot at a world title. If the wait doesn't take too long, it could prove advantageous to Brinkley as it will allow him more time to recoop from a hard-fought victory two weeks ago. An April date may have been too soon, but one of Brinkley's biggest advantages during his current streak has been a busy schedule. Forced to wait too long and it could prove to be a negative.

The question remains: Will Jesse Brinkley get his deserved shot at a world title? Many think the answer is yes, but he'll be waiting in the wings while Edison Miranda gets another shot on HBO against Bute. If recent credentials have any creedence in the sport, then Brinkley should be getting a shot soon because there really isn't anyone left outside of the Super Six that has a resume as good as his. But with HBO calling the shots, too often that doesn't seem to matter.