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World rated super middleweight Jesse Brinkley watched with interest this past weekend as the Super Six World Boxing Classic got underway with Arthur Abraham scoring a twelfth round knockout of Jermain Taylor and Carl Froch taking a split decision over Andre Dirrell.
Said Brinkley, “I congratulate Abraham and Froch on their victories, but their bouts clearly showed the limitations of the tournaments. Neither of the fights on Saturday were scorchers. With all the buildup I would have expected to see much more action.”
Brinkley, sporting a record of 34-5-0 (22KO’s), is currently world ranked # 5 by the IBF and #7 by the WBC. Riding an eight bout winning streak, this year he owns a twelve round decision win over cross-town rival Joey Gilbert and a ten round decision over Mike Paschall, both of which took place in front of thousands of his hometown fans.
Continued Brinkley, “Jermain has been in some terrific bouts throughout his career but I don’t think he was truthfully ready for Abraham. When he fought Froch earlier this year, he was knocked out pretty hard and to get in the ring against Abraham, he looked more than a little gun-shy.
“As far as Dirrell, there was nothing on his record to suggest he could fight at a world class level and his matchup against Froch showed exactly that. His only other bout this year was against Derrick Findley, which hardly gets you prepared to fight Froch. Honestly, Dirrell looked scared for most of the fight with all his movement.”
Amidst internet reports that if Jermain Taylor would not continue and Allan Green would be added to the mix or have to face Edison Miranda in a boxoff, Brinkley was perplexed.
“I watched Allan Green’s last fight against Tarvis Simms, it was all I could do to keep from falling asleep,” he said. “Miranda at one point was a beast, but against Andre Ward he lost every round. Neither Green or Miranda will be able to compete against Froch, Abraham or Kessler.”
Brinkley concluded by proposing to Showtime’s Ken Hershman an interesting idea. “Obviously, if Jermain can’t continue in the tournament I’d be very interested in taking his place. If he needs a boxoff, we can do a three way tournament in one night between Green, Miranda and myself. How about that for some excitement?”
