Reid has wanted to fight Froch for a little while but never felt hed have given himself a fair enough chance if hed have taken the fight when offered after his inactivity, he wanted a couple of warm up bouts, he got offered the Brinkley match with 2 weeks and given the circumstances ie his age inactivity, last fight result, all this put together and Rob did well, he fought a decent paced 8 rounds and was starting to land his jab and right hand.

Brinkley has power, he was the only fighter in the first contender series to score a ko, he was also in training for another fight at the time.

With this bout Robin has got more rounds under his belt in the last 18 months than Carl has, Carl has also had to be carefull in training because of his knee, hes been out for 9 months and has no experience fighting experienced fighters, Rob knows how to win after a long lay off, also something that Carl hasnt done yet is beat an undefeated fighter, well Rob took on the younger undefeated Magee in his own back yard and dropped him 4 times, Brian has an awkward southpaw style and a decent defence, Carl is tailor made for Reid, hands low, slow pace and untested, he hasnt had to take a decent shot yet which is why I find it funny that people are saying he has a decent chin, I think I remember Valery Odin having Carl in some trouble, someone did early on. Do you notice how Carls management have kept him away from any punchers ? Or undefeated fighters ?

Hopefully Rob having those 8 rounds in the bank this year will be sharper than Froch and he can get his jab working early, I see Froch lunging in trying to make an impression early and with this being his first meaningfull fight and in his home town he will try to impress early but against some one so good at fighting "rough" this will be a mistake, Carl has also never had to deal with rough tactics yet, I cant see him getting settled early or at all in this fight, he may even blow himself out early trying for the stoppage while not being as fit or sharp as he should be, Rob will come on late and maybe even stop Carl with a nice timed right hand, or Carls pathetic management may just pull him outta the fight later on with swellings around his eyes from his low guard