Will long layoff affect Brinkley?

RENO - For Jesse Brinkley, Thursday night meant the end of a five-week journey that has nearly deprived him of food and water.

The Yerington native, who hasn't fought since pounding Joey Gilbert in February, made the 175-pound limit for his scheduled 10-round fight against Mike Paschall today at 7 p.m. at the Reno Events Center.

"I'm just excited to get back in there and see how this all plays out," Brinkley said at Thursday's weigh-in at the Silver Legacy. "I went through a lot of trials and tribulations on this one.

"Everyday I've come into the gym to train weighing at 185-190. So I don't think it will (affect me). I don't know though. Time will tell. After the fight we'll let all you guys know exactly how I felt."

When Brinkley (33-5, 22 KOs) stepped off the scale to take a few promotional photos, a few beads of sweat clung onto his nearly bald head as a reminder that his body was still trying to burn off any excess weight it could. A few seconds later he was met with a bottle of water and another of Pedialite in the hopes of gaining proper hydration levels by tonight. Brinkley said he would likely weigh up to 190 pounds by the opening bell.

Brinkley, who normally fights at 168 pounds, said he doesn't know what the extra weight will do to him in the ring.

The added weight, though, may play into the hands of the power puncher. It could either give him heavier hands or it could slow him down against a southpaw that Brinkley already admitted he wasn't as prepared for as he hoped.

Paschall (19-1, 4 KOs) weighed 173 pounds.

Brinkley, ranked 13th in the world, is hanging onto the hope that this fight will set up a shot with a top contender in the super middleweight division. His best shot could be against Kelly Pavlick, the WBO and WBC middleweight champion.

Five of the top eight super middleweight boxers in the world are already locked into fights that would take them through the summer of 2011. Showtime will conduct a six-man tournament starting in October that will include WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch, Mikkel Kessler (ranked third), Jermain Taylor (fifth), Andre Dirrell (sixth), Andre Ward (eighth) and Arthur Abraham, who is moving up from middleweight.

If Brinkley were to meet Pavlick in the ring it might have to be at 160 pounds, which is the norm for middleweights.

"He's the only out there for me to fight that's a big name that I want to fight," Brinkley said. "Pavlick's the last one. Look at me at 175, the thing is, at 168 (or) 65, I don't know how I'm going to fight 160, so that's a problem."