Jesse Brinkley vs. Curtis Stevens Fight Preview and Prediction
Friday, January 29th, 2010
Reno, Nevada
ESPN2 at 10PM EST
by Scotty L of Predictem.com
Fight #1: Curtis Stevens (-260) vs. Jesse Brinkley (+200)
Analysis: Curtis Stevens will face Jesse Brinkley in a 12 round super middleweight fight in Reno on Friday. Followers of cable TV boxing will be familiar with both men, especially Brinkley. The former star of the TV series The Contender has received a lot of exposure in high profile fights. Stevens has also made an impression with a series of televised knockouts.
Both have had their setbacks. Brinkley, a fringe contender for the past 7-8 years, has never really gotten past that stage in his career. The 33 year-old has had some good wins including a debatable decision over Danny Perez, two wins over fellow Contender star Anthony Bonsante, and a recent decision over another Contender cast member in Joey Gilbert.
Brinkley did lose twice on The Contender, however, to Sergio Mora and Alfonso Gomez (now a welterweight). He then continued his swoon with a stoppage loss to heavy-handed but otherwise unexceptional Joey Spina. Following another loss to aging Robin Reid (the last fight Reid would ever win) it appeared Brinkley was finished. To his credit, he has since streaked to eight straight wins bringing his record to 34-5 (22 KOs).
Stevens, 21-2 (15 KOs), created a bit of a stir a few years ago with several blistering rampages on TV, but has cooled off a bit. A strange stoppage loss to trialhorse Marcos Primera was avenged, but is still troubling, as Primera was only 19-15-2 at the time. He rebounded, before losing to stellar Andre Dirrell in an awful fight that left little to praise on either side. Stevens appeared to lose some of his earlier killer instinct. His most recent fight, a 3rd round TKO over 22-0 Piotr Wilczewski, perhaps restored a little confidence.
Stevens, 24, surely realizes that in order to take his career to the next level, he cannot afford to lose this fight. With Brinkley, perhaps the dye has already been cast. He has never indicated that he can compete at the highest level, whereas Stevens still has the potential to perhaps get to that status. I hesitate to wholeheartedly endorse Stevens because he really hasnt shown the form that got everyone excited about him in the first place. At 57, he will also be conceding 3 in height to Brinkley who might appreciate being able to work from a bit of a distance.
I feel, however, that Stevens youth and energy, combined with his better upside and power will allow him to win most of the rounds and win a competitive decision against Brinkley.
Scotty’s Pick: Lay the -260 on Curtis Stevens to win.
