Brinkley becoming worldwid star

(This is the first of a two-part story on Yerington boxer Jesse Brinkley, who is one of two Northern Nevada boxers on the NBC reality series "The Contender." The story concludes Tuesday.)

RENO - Yerington's Jesse Brinkley has been a familiar enough face for Northern Nevada boxing fans, but as the Bachman Turner Overdrive song goes, You ain't seen nothing yet.

With his continued presence on the NBC reality show "The Contender" the 28-year-old Brinkley has gone from a local favorite to a worldwide favorite.

Brinkley, 24-1, with 16 knockouts, was on the first leg of what looks to be a media blitz Friday, holding court with several local broadcast sports reporters in the new law offices of Gilbert & Schopper, LLP.

On a desk lay a 2-inch stack of more than 400 e-mails for Brinkley, all received in the last two weeks. The e-mails came from five countries, including England, Malaysia and the Philippines. Some came from Alaska, where some fans invited Brinkley, an avid outdoorsman, to come fishing with them.

"This show has been a savior for the recognition, the exposure," Brinkley said. "You can't buy it. The whole world is watching the show. There are no offers as good as this. The numbers speak for themselves."

Today Brinkley and Reno's Joey Gilbert (who along with Mark Schopper acts as Brinkley's agent and attorney) will be in Las Vegas and will be the only two Contenders who will entertain reporters from 15 major newspapers, including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, among others.

But all of the attention and acclaim aren't going to Brinkley's head. He said he's been trying to keep a low profile.

"I don't surface as much," Brinkley said. "I've been locked down in Vegas for seven weeks training. Joey's been doing my promoting. I never went up looking for Hollywood, movies or the cameras. What you see is what I am. I look like a big goofball."

Actually, Brinkley has been quite entertaining. He's been a mixture of Small-town Boy Meets Hollywood Star (Sylvester Stallone had some fun at Brinkley's expense in the first episode) and a renegade with an attitude (Brinkley has jawed repeatedly with West teammate and villain Ishe Smith).

"When I first talked to Stallone, I thought this is Rocky, Cobra, the guy from 'Over the Top' and 'First Blood,'" Brinkley said. "The first five minutes I spoke with him I was overwhelmed. I was just like, 'Wow.' Then it was over. We became friends."

Which is much more than can be said for Smith.

"Ishe Smith is overwhelmingly disgusting," Brinkley said, causing Gilbert to laugh in the background. "We went down there as friends. I wished him all the luck in the world. By episode two, I was overwhelmed with disgust. It only gets uglier. He was built for a straightjacket.

"I have nothing good to say about Ishe Smith. He's a loose cannon. He preaches religion on one show and he's throwing bananas in the next. I mean, keep it together. He's bad for the sport."

Due to a confidentiality agreement, Brinkley couldn't say whether he will be meeting Smith on tomorrow's show - a two-hour, two-fight episode beginning at 8 p.m. - but he urged local viewers to tune in, saying it was "a huge episode."

Ever since he saw his new digs on the set of the show, Brinkley said, he planned on staying awhile.

"I knew from hello that nobody is beating me," Brinkley said. "I saw my new residence, saw the house and furniture and gym and said, 'Nobody is kicking me out of this house.' It was love at first sight."

Brinkley, who defeated former world title challenger Jonathan Reid in his first bout on the show (the fight actually took place on Aug. 21, 2004), said all of the new attention only serves to make him feel he needs to step it up.

"Now all eyes are on you," Brinkley said. "When you become the center of attention in the sport, the critics come out. You're supposed to take to the next level. My main goal is not to screw up and to silence the critics. I want to overwhelm my fans with greatness."

And there are a whole lot more of them to overwhelm.

For more on Brinkley, log on to www.jessebrinkley.com.