Yerington middleweight Jesse Brinkley has a funny way of expressing his self-confidence.
"I have two speeds," Brinkley said. "Slow and somewhat fast. Actually, I'm kind of slow. I get hit easy. I have medium power."
Doesn't sound like a guy who is coming off the biggest win of his career, does it?
Be that as it may, Brinkley is indeed on a roll, having won his last 16 fights, including a first-round blowout of Cleveland Corder in Worley, Idaho, which garnered Brinkley the APBA Western U.S. middleweight title on June 2.
Brinkley, now 20-1, with 14 knockouts, will face perhaps his most experienced opponent yet in rugged old pro Joe Garcia, of Houston, Texas, Friday at City Center Pavilion. The eight-rounder will be part of a five-bout card, which will be televised by ESPN2 Friday Night Fights and will be presented by Top Rank, in association with George Chung's American Champion Sports and Downtown Reno.
Brinkley-Garcia will be a swing bout, meaning it won't be televised unless the other bouts end early.
The 36-year-old Garcia brings in a record of 21-5-5 (13). Garcia retired in Dec. 1989, before returning in March 1998. He has gone 7-1-1 in his return, with his only defeat coming via six-round TKO to devastating puncher and 2000 Olympian Jermain Taylor, and he has been inactive for over a year.
And there's a little bit more at stake for Brinkley than just getting by Garcia. He needs to get out of the fight healthy enough if he is to return on Aug. 15, when boxing returns to Gardnerville and he may have a chance to headline his first show.
"There's no pressure," the 26-year-old Brinkley said. "I have to do what I have to do. I'm going to box. The question is, can he handle young power? I'm not intimidated because he fought Taylor. Give me three or four good wins and I'll fight Taylor. Let's just go."
Now that's a bit more like it.
Brinkley's self-assurance stems in part from his devastating win over Corder, who brought in a record of 27-1 and what Brinkley perceived to be a chip on his shoulder. Brinkley said he met Corder at the Peppermill during a weigh-in, and when told that Brinkley was a possible opponent for him, Corder told Brinkley to go get some experience first.
"I wanted to fight him for two years," Brinkley said. "I kept hearing his name and I'd go, 'Who is that?' Usually you only hear champions' names. His wasn't familiar. Then I saw him fight Roger Flores, a guy I had beaten. I thought to myself, I could knock him out. Then he blew me off."
Brinkley smoldered for the better part of two years as the bout was canceled several times. Then he paid back Corder in spades, flattening the 30-year-old with a right uppercut. When Corder got up, Brinkley floored him again and the bout was stopped as an unsteady Corder gained his feet.
But if you think Brinkley is satisfied with the convincing stoppage, think again.
"He owes me a rematch," Brinkley said. "I want to do it again. We were supposed to have a fight up there and here in Reno. I want to see if (the knockout) was a fluke or an accident. Or did I just catch him cold?"
When asked about possibly headlining the Aug. 15 show in Gardnerville, Brinkley shook his head.
"I'm not going to hold my breath," he said. "Every time I get my hopes up, it backfires. A fight will fall out. A promoter will use somebody else. I won eight fights in row at the Peppermill. Then I was forgotten. I was on a roll."
Brinkley, who trains out of Las Vegas, said he'd like to win seven or eight good fights "before facing a monster."
"If I'm going to lose, I want to lose to the best," Brinkley said. "What have I got to lose? I don't want to just beat a bunch of has-beens. I'll fight anyone."
Now that's some self-confidence.
Notes: The main event is a 10-round featherweight contest between Orlando Salido, 17-8-1 (11), of Los Angeles, and Freddy Neal, 17-1-2 (12), of Shaker Heights, Ohio. Also featured will be popular Mia St. John and an eight-round junior middleweight bout between Rodney Jones, 29-3 (18), Stockton, Calif., and Jason Papillon, 36-9-1 (24), Broussard, La.
Doors open at 5 p.m. Tickets are $75, $60, $40 and $25 and are available by calling 1-888-288-1833, or by visiting www.downtownreno.com or www.tickets.com.
