RENO — Jesse Brinkley is ready for a storm. He expects it to be a mean, strong, high-pressure system from the northeast with a flurry of quick shots that could set him up to be blown out early with a lightning-fast head or body shot.

Brinkley will endure this storm tonight when he steps into the ring for a 12-round, IBF super-middleweight eliminator bout against Brooklyn-based Curtis "Showtime" Stevens for the main event at Reno Xtreme Fights II hosted by Grand Sierra Resort.

“He's a power puncher,” Brinkley said of his opponent. “He's almost got a young Mike Tyson style, so I've got to be well prepared and well conditioned to be ready for that, to weather the storms.”



Having watched a lot of video of Stevens, Brinkley says he knows how to be prepared for the bad weather.

“Hands up, good jabs, great defense, get your eyes checked, make sure they're 20-15 or 20-20 so you see everything coming,” he said Tuesday before working out at Elite Boxing Club in Reno. “You have to be mentally and physically ready, both things mentally and physically ready. When you have both, hopefully you go out and weather those big storms.”

Brinkley, a native of Yerington, who calls Reno his “backyard,” will bring his record of 35-5 (22 KOs, ranked no. 7 in IBF super-middleweight) into tonight's fight against Stevens' record of 21-2 (15 KOs, ranked no. 8 in IBF super-middleweight). Brinkley had his first professional fight in 1997 and 23 of his fights have been in Nevada, primarily in Reno. He has not lost a fight in two years and has not lost here since 1998.

“I underestimated the guy. I took him lightly,” Brinkley said of the TKO loss more than 10 years ago to Conception Gutierrez. “I learned a lot that night. I got educated at the Cal-Neva that night.”

Whether on the road or on close-to-home turf, Brinkley said he approaches each fight the same way.

“I'm not going to fight no different here than I would fight if I was fighting in Curtis' back yard,” Brinkley said. “I'm fighting exactly the same if I'm fighting anybody anywhere. I give it my all whether I'm in my back yard, my front yard, my living room or his house. I go out and do my job, and my job is to win the fight.”

Stevens, meanwhile, is looking forward to the road trip.

“I feed off the crowd so the more hostile the environment, the worse off it will be for him,” Stevens told the Web site www.boxingnews24.com. “As I already told Jesse and all his fans when I went to first announce the fight in Reno, he hasn’t ever been in the ring with someone like me. To be honest, when I first heard about the fight, I really couldn’t believe he accepted it. If he thinks he is going to use me as his stepping stone to bigger things in the super-middleweight division, then he is in for a rude awakening.”

Despite a 10-year age difference, Brinkley said he and Stevens are comparable in experience because of Stevens' extensive amateur background. Nonetheless, the local fighter is confident.

“I really believe it's an even match and I believe the best fighter will win that night,” he said. “If we fought 10 times, I don't believe I would win 10. I don't believe he would win 10...But at the end of that night I will raise my hand in a victorious manner.”

Over his 13-year career, Brinkley has been a mainstay in Reno's boxing circuit. In a February 2009 fight billed as Reno's “Civil War,” Brinkley took on Joey Gilbert, another local fighter and fellow contestant on NBC's reality show “The Contender.” Brinkley broke Gilbert's nose in the fifth round, but the two went at it for another seven rounds and Brinkley won by a decision.

At 33 years old, Brinkley potentially still has quite a few years left in the ring but he is already deep into another battle: parenthood. He and his “better half,” Colleen, have two children: son Steyr, 8, and daughter Danaya, 7. Brinkley says the kids are seasoned in watching dad take shots in the ring and he jokes that he isn't sure about the quality of his parenting with the youngsters watching him fight. However, he immediately knows what his parental reaction would be if his son one day wants to follow in his footsteps.

“No way,” he said. “Go deliver babies, go put braces on kids' teeth, you know what I mean? Don't use your head as a punching bag.”

Tonight's fights will take place in the Grand Theatre at the Grand Sierra Resort. Reno Xtreme Fights II, presented by Grand Sierra Resort and Casino, Star Boxing and Let’s Get it on Promotions, is a boxing-only event. Doors open at 6 p.m. with the first bout kicking off at 7 p.m. Tickets are $100, $75 and $40. To purchase tickets or for more information, call (800) 648-3568 or visit ... www.grandsierraresort.com.