Jesse Brinkley Upsets Curtis Stevens. Is Lucien Bute Next?

You might remember Jesse Brinkley from the first season of The Contender. 

An earnest boxer from Nevada who was easily one of the top boxers on the show. He ended up placing behind Sergio Mora and Peter Manfredo Jr., who have both gone on to some amount of fame after The Contender.

I hadn't seen Brinkley fight since the show ended. I honestly thought he'd probably given up boxing and moved on. 

Then I started to see his name crop up on various rankings, ranked as high as seventh as a Super Middleweight on IBF's ranking system. 

I heard he was fighting on ESPN's Friday Night Fights. Curiously, I turned in. 

Wow! Am I glad I did. 

Brinkley was facing off against Curtis 'Showtime' Stevens as a 2-1 underdog. A very athletic, slick puncher with a record of 21-2 with 15 KO's. 

The winner was expected to fight Lucien Bute in April for a world championship. 

Teddy Atlas did a great job of explaining that Stevens would come at Brinkley with left hook combinations and try to knock him out in the first or second round. 

That's exactly what happened. 

From the get go, Stevens tried to decapitate Brinkley, stinging him with a couple of good lefts in the opening round. At one point, I thought Brinkley might go down. 

No, he weathered the storm, and proceeded to win the second round. 

Then the third, fourth, fifth, and finally knocking down Stevens in the sixth round with a great combination of left hooks and straight rights. 

All night Brinkley demonstrated great distance, keeping just out of range of Stevens. He used his jab very, very well and showed decent power. I was surprised to learn he was being trained by Peter Manfredo Sr., obviously those Contender contacts are paying off.

As the fight wore on, Stevens began to wear out. It was painfully obvious he wasn't expecting the war that Brinkley was bringing to him. 

I'll admit, I was surprised by the ring generalship that Brinkley showed, and his heart. He's a smart fighter and his head movement is much better than I thought. 

He's definitely not a pushover and he's not a gimmick from a reality TV show.

The guy is a legitimate fighter and deserves to be ranked in the top ten in the world.

He did an absolute great job of figuring out Stevens and adjusting to his style. He continually defended the left hooks to his head and countered with nice, straight rights. 

By the end of the fight, Brinkley had won all but two rounds on my scorecard. In fact, if the fight had gone on another ten seconds, I think he would have knocked Stevens out. 

Let me tell you, this was one heck of an entertaining fight. I was riveted for all twelve rounds. It's rare you see an underdog completely dominate a favored opponent, but that's exactly what happened as the fight wore on. 

Lucien Bute is likely up next for Brinkley. 

OK, here's where the slipper might come off.

Bute is a very different beast than anyone that Brinkley has fought in the past. He is considered the best pound-for-pound Super Middleweight in the world. He's 25-0 with 20 knockouts. 

I think Bute will be too fast.

Still, this could be an intriguing fight and what a great story line if Brinkley wins it. Going from third place on The Contender to beating the best Super Middleweight in the world? That would be outstanding for the sport of boxing.