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World ranked super middleweight Jesse Brinkley watched with interest this Saturday night as Carl Froch came from behind with seconds to go in the 12th and final round to stop former middleweight world champion Jermain Taylor and retain his WBC Super Middleweight title.
Said Brinkley, “It was a decent fight but the skill level for both guys was below average. Froch is a tough guy but his best defense is his great chin. Had Taylor been more aggressive, he certainly would have stopped the fight in the third round.”
“Jermain has completely regressed in the last couple of years; it’s as if his confidence level in his own ability has been shot since the first Pavlik fight. Had I been fighting on Saturday night and had Froch hurt like that in the third, the fight would have been over.”
Froch was defending the WBC belt he had won via 12 round decision over Jean Pascal on December 6.
Continued Brinkley, “I had heard so much hype about Froch and his skill set was very weak for a world class fighter. He just came after Taylor face first with looping punches..”
“I don’t know what Froch or his people have planned, but if it’s a real fight he’s looking for, I’m his guy. We can do it in Reno, the East Coast or in his backyard in England.”
The 32 year old Brinkley, 33-5-0 (22,) is coming off a 12 round blood filled hammering of Joey Gilbert on February 14. After breaking Gilbert’s nose in the fifth round, Brinkley proceeded to batter his elusive longtime local rival for the balance of the fight in front of a packed house of 7,000 at the Reno Events Center.
Said Brinkley, “Joey ran the whole fight, it doesn’t look like that will be a problem against Froch. I don’t think he moved his head or his feet the whole bout against Taylor.”
The Yerington born Brinkley, world ranked # 10 by the IBF, also commented on the current status of former world champion Jeff Lacy. “I got a tape of his fight with Otis Griffin, it was pathetic. Jeff was never that good and he’s been just a shell of his former self since he was rushed into the Calzaghe fight by his promoter.”
“I knocked out Griffin last year and from watching the tape, Lacy was given a gift decision, same as he got against Epifanio Mendoza last year before his fight with Taylor. Watching the Taylor vs. Lacy fight last year was absolutely painful.”
Added Terry Lane of Reno’s Let’s Get It On Promotions, “Look at the guys ranked ahead of Jesse, they almost all have losses in their last six fights while Jesse has kept winning over the same period.
“Taylor’s lost three of his last six. With the exception of Froch and Bute, everyone else has at least one loss. It’s not worth counting Andre Dirrell or Karoly Balzsay, as their level of competition has been so weak.”
“Jesse can draw huge crowds here in Reno, but he’s just as willing to go anywhere and fight any of these guys. Lacy should actually be fighting Brinkley because Roy Jones is going to make him look worse than Calzaghe did.”
Said Chet Koerner, President of TKO Boxing Promotions, co-promoter of Jesse Brinkley, “Jesse is more than frustrated since the Gilbert fight. We watched these other world ranked fighters at 168 and Jesse knows than he can beat them.”
