Let's Get It On Promotions inks Brinkley
BY MIKE HOUSER
Appeal Sports Writer
Yerington super middleweight Jesse Brinkley started off the New Year not with a resolution but rather a disclosure.
"I'm signed property of Let's Get It On," Brinkley said Tuesday. "For one year now I'm under the wing of Terry and Tommy Lane and Let's Get It On Promotions. Let's see what we can all do."
And the first order of business, according to Terry Lane, was to get his newly signed fighter back in the ring as soon as possible.
Lane, who on Friday signed the 31-year-old Brinkley, 29-5-2 with 20 knockouts, at the Macaroni Grill in Reno, said he would match him up with either Joey Spina or Otis "Triple OG" Griffin Feb. 22 in the Grande Exposition Ballroom of the Silver Legacy Resort Casino.
Lane said he's prefer to match up Brinkley and Spina in a rematch of their 2006 fight - Spina won on a come-from-behind, 11th-round stoppage - but if that's not possible he'd look to bring in the 30-year-old Griffin, of Sacramento.
Brinkley and Spina both fought last in the Grande Exposition Ballroom on Let's Get It On's Oct. 20 "Collision Course" card. Brinkley stopped Isaiah Henderson in one round and Spina took out Shannon Miller in four. The event was designed to draw together Brinkley and Spina, but Lane said negotiations with the "KO Kid" haven't been as productive as he would've had liked.
Griffin, 18-2-1 (7), was the eventual champion on Oscar De La Hoya's reality boxing show "The Next Great Champ," which was filmed in 2004 and aired in 2005, but was knocked out by the more popular NBC reality show "The Contender."
"The Next Great Champ" was axed by Fox after four episodes and its last six shows were relegated to Fox Sports Network. "The Contender," which was also filmed in 2004 and aired in 2005, featured Brinkley and Reno's Joey Gilbert, among others.
Brinkley is the third local fighter the Lanes have signed since they took over the business last year from their father, Mills Lane, a former Washoe County judge, district attorney and boxing referee, who suffered a debilitating stroke in 2002.
The Lanes also promote brothers Derek and Tyler Hinkey, of McDermitt. Derek, 4-0 (4), is a super middleweight and Tyler, 1-0-1 (1), is a heavyweight.
"I think I speak for both my father and brother when I say we wanted to sign a bigger-name fighter at some time," Terry Lane said of Brinkley. "I didn't know it would happen this soon. Things are happening very quickly for us."
After dropping an eight-round decision on March 30 to former super middleweight titlist Robin Reid in the United Kingdom, Brinkley reeled off three straight knockouts over Luis Lopez (TKO 6), Dallas Vargas (KO 9) and Henderson to close the year.
The Lanes also promoted Brinkley-Vargas - their first boxing card, held at the Eldorado Hotel-Casino on July 6.
Brinkley's one-year contract guarantees him three fights in 2008 and also allows him to fight once for friend and promoter Moe Smith, in Idaho, and once for trainer Peter Manfredo Sr., who recently received his promoter's license and lives in Providence, R.I.
The Lanes will promote their first mixed martial arts card Jan. 8 in Las Vegas. It will be a private show and will be held at the Riviera. Terry Lane said it is a perfect opportunity to get involved in the sport, whose popularity is on the rise.
"Both sports can share the same fan base," said Lane, who added that he thought MMA was the reason 2007 featured so many attractive boxing events.
Now, with Brinkley inked, Let's Get It On will continue to try to put Reno back on the boxing map.
"We want to get Jesse a couple more wins and put him in position to fight some of the top guys at 168," Lane said. "What we want to do is get him a title shot in the next 12-18 months."
Brinkley, who will leave for Providence Friday to begin his training camp under Manfredo Sr., said he's ready to take his career to a new level.
"Honestly, I would love to get three more good wins and try out a world champion," he said. "I've always wanted to be a champion, but you have to beat one to be one, right? I've got gray hair on my neck; it's now or never."
Brinkley has been keeping his eye on the super middleweight division and has a couple of opponents in mind.
"I would love to fight (former IBF super middleweight titlist) Jeff Lacy," Brinkley said. "I'm not calling him out or anything, but within the next year I'd like to fight him and Allen Green."
Green was closing in on a title shot before murderous slugger Edison Miranda stopped him in a see-saw affair in March.
"I don't want to fight no-name fighters - no disrespect by calling them no-names," Brinkley said. "I want to fight former champs, champions and top 15 guys every fight. Let's finish things out over the next few years with a bang. Why shouldn't I fight the best?"
And that leaves either Spina or Griffin as the springboard for what Brinkley hopes will be a stellar year with the Lanes.
"They're pretty excited with the way I've fought my last three fights," Brinkley said. "Right now we're happy."
While Lane said that Griffin, who has fought all of his bouts at light heavyweight, has a great fan base and will bring a number of his own followers with him to Reno, Brinkley said he didn't watch "The Next Great Champ" and was a little surprised at how his would-be opponent has taken the initiative.
"He e-mailed or texted Terry and said he'd knock me out - at least that's what I heard," Brinkley said. "Terry said, 'He believes he can beat you and wants to fight you.' What am I going to say - 'No?'
"If he's calling me out, he feels like he has a way to beat me. I don't know; usually you call out a champion, not just 'I want to beat Jesse Brinkley.' I don't care. Bring him on."
"Bring him on", Let's Get It On - it's the kind of talk local boxing fans like to hear; and with Spina or Griffin meeting Brinkley, it's the kind of action they like to see.