RENO, NEVADA — Peter Quillin announced his presence amongst the leading middleweight contenders with a third-round stoppage of a suddenly faded former title challenger in Jesse Brinkley at the Reno Events Center on Friday night. The Telefutura-televised fight, which looked like a great crossroads bout on paper, unfortunately ended up being a total mismatch.
Brinkley (35-7, 22 KOs) of nearby Yerington, Nevada never looked sure of himself in the fight, which was almost to be expected after witnessing his physical and emotional state at Thursday’s weigh-in.
Quillin (24-0, 18 KOs) of Hollywood, California wobbled Brinkley, 166.6, early in the first round with a left to his ear. Brinkley retreated to the ropes, but managed to throw just enough to keep a patient Quillin, 165, at bay for much of the remainder of the round.
Brinkley, who entered the fight the IBF #7 ranked super middleweight, was fooled by a feint early in the second, which left him open for a Quillin right that landed clean. Brinkley was briefly inspired and traded with Quillin for a quick back-and-forth exchange. Before the close of the second, Brinkley landed a straight right hand that looked good, but did not seem to affect Quillin.
While Brinkley was competitive for a moment in the second round, it seemed to be more of a case of Quillin letting off the gas pedal, as he looked to pace himself for the scheduled ten rounds. Though the writing was on the wall from the moment the bell rang, the end of the fight came somewhat suddenly in the third. Quillin landed a perfect straight right hand and seriously rocked Brinkley with the ensuing one-two. Referee Joe Cortez apparently thought Brinkley was going down, as he leaped in and reached across Quillin as if a knockdown had been scored.
The Cortez blunder only delayed the inevitable, as Quillin quickly pressured Brinkley against the ropes and let loose with a rapid flurry. Brinkley, either dazed or resigned to the eventual stoppage stood up to the blows, but did not attempt to counter or move out of the corner. After five or six clean punches, Cortez decided that he had seen enough and called the fight at 2:34 of round three. The victory netted Quillin the IBO-affiliated USBO Super Middleweight title, but more importantly sets the unbeaten Grand Rapids, Michigan/New York transplant up for some lucrative paydays.
While it was apparent Brinkley was a shell of his former self, possibly having not shaken off the aftereffects of his damaging loss to Lucian Bute last year, the incredibly humble Quillin still gave him more than his due after the bout. “He ate that first punch, and that was a hard punch I hit him with,” described Quillin. “I don’t know how hurt he was, because I am not him, but he is a tough guy and I am very thankful I had the opportunity to fight him here in Reno. He had all the things I didn’t have. He had the pressure with his home crowd and I didn’t have none of that. I just wanted to go in there and do what I was trained to do.”
The story going into the fight was that Jesse Brinkley was having trouble making the contracted 165-pounds, and there were some disagreements between the camps over what the actual contracted weight requirement was for the bout. In the end, Brinkley officially weighed either 1.6 or .6-pounds over the contract, depending on which side of the dispute you stood. Quillin, the positive guy that he is, remained restrained throughout the whole process. “It’s all about being professional,” said Quillin succinctly after the fight. “We signed a contract to fight at 165-pounds, so be fair and come in at the weight we were supposed to.”
The word after the fight was that the Quillin team has been in serious discussions with the representatives of undisputed middleweight king Sergio Martinez. “They are going to try and secure me a fight with Sergio Martinez,” revealed Quillin. “If that’s what they want me to do, then that is what I am going to train for. They have been having talks, but I wasn’t allowed to say anything. This was the fight to see how well I would do, and I put it out there for the people to see.”
A fight with Martinez would be a monumental step-up in class for Quillin, especially considering the lackluster version of Jesse Brinkley he was presented with on Friday night. However, Quillin talks the talk of a fighter ready for his breakout opportunity. “I am out here to call out all comers,” said Quillin, breaking away from his normally reserved tune. “Whoever want to come and get it, let me hear from you. It’s whatever my team says. If they say ‘fight King Kong’, then I am going to get ready to fight King Kong. So Sergio Martinez, I doubt he is King Kong and I know he is not Superman, because if he is Superman, I have kryptonite.”
In the action-packed Telefutura-televised co-feature, Lonnie Smith (13-2-2, 9 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada impressively moved past former prospect David Rodela (15-4-3, 6 KOs) of Oxnard, California with a six-round unanimous decision.
Smith, 130.8, came out fast, looking to pressure Rodela, 130.8, in the first, and that is exactly what he did. After covering up, taking some headshots and defending others, Rodela briefly turned Smith to the ropes and landed a clean uppercut. As the round came to a close, it was Smith putting it on Rodela, who held up his gloves and leaned into the ropes.
Rodela battled back and did well in the second, but Smith looked reinvigorated at the start of the third. Rodela had his moments, as he timed Smith’s shots in spots. However, Smith landed the harder blows throughout the round, often forcing Rodela against the ropes and into retreat mode.
The fourth round was back-and-forth, but the constant was that Smith remained the harder puncher. Midway through the fifth, Rodela landed a clean two-punch combination at range, but the unfazed Smith countered with a smile before sticking out his tongue, informing the Oxnard native that he was not affected by his offering. Smith proceeded to land a clean left hook out of the corner that stopped Rodela in his tracks momentarily. Smith punctuated the round with an unanswered series against the ropes.
Smith came out for the sixth much like he did for the first, rushing out at Rodela looking to do damage. The wilting Rodela had little left on his punches, but Smith looked fresh and strong. Rodela still landed in spots, but Smith won over the fans ringside as well as the official scorers, who had the fight 58-56 and 59-55 twice for the Las Vegas native.
Jose “Chuy” Elizondo (1-0) of Reno did not exactly thrill his local fan base, but he did emerge victorious in his professional debut with a four-round unanimous decision over Rodrigo Espinoza (0-1-1) of Lindsay, California.
Elizondo, 155.4, has freakish height for a junior middleweight, but did not use that to his full advantage. Espinoza, 154, could never get close enough to do any real damage and was consistently outworked by the taller Elizondo over the four rounds. When the Lindsay resident did get in close he was usually too off balance to throw a punch in the manner he would like.
Espinoza finally got Elizondo pinned against the ropes in the third, but unfortunately for the Lindsay native, it was the local fighter that got work done in that instance. Elizondo tired in the fourth, as he held after nearly every combination, but alas Espinoza could still not get anything of significance to land in close. All three judges scored the fight a shutout, 40-36 for the southpaw Elizondo.
Jose Sandoval (1-0, 1 KO) of Modesto, California was successful in his pro debut as he pounded away at the amateurish Andrew Rempp (1-3-1) of Yerington en route to a fourth-round corner stoppage. Sandoval, 124.6, rocked Rempp, 126.4, with left hooks all night. Rempp was in trouble in both the second and third rounds, getting a short reprieve when Sandoval punched himself out briefly in the latter round.
The fight went from one-sided, to brutally one-sided in the fourth as Rempp took an unanswered series of head shots against the ropes with referee Joe Cortez looking on. With the result a formality and Rempp taking many blows to the head, a stoppage seemed to be the obvious call. With Cortez unwilling to take the initiative, Rempp’s corner finally threw in towel to force the ref’s hand. Official time was 2:04 of the fourth.
Trevor McCumby (3-0, 3 KOs) of Glendale, Arizona ran through a less than stiff opponent just inside of one round in the final bout of the evening. Ritchie Cherry (2-2, 1 KO) of East St. Louis, Missouri provided no test and did little to earn his free airfare to the Biggest Little City in the World.
McCumby, 180.4, rocked Cherry, 178.4, with the first left hook he landed. Cherry was awkward, which may have provoked McCumby to throw the Midwest club fighter to the ground. Cherry’s one shinning moment came when he caught McCumby off balance with a quick combination that made him stumble over his own feet. It was a fleeting feeling for Cherry, as he was soon deposited onto the canvas by a right uppercut followed by a glancing left. Cherry’s gingerly fall to the mat left many at ringside questioning the validity of his instability.
Another left put Cherry down again, but the St. Louis fighter did make it back up. However, when Cherry leaped off the ground, only to fall back on to the canvas, he turned away from McCumby which forced referee Vic Drakulich to stop the mismatch. Time of the stoppage was 3:00 of the first.
Photos by Stephanie Trapp/trappfotos@gmail.com
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.
