Quillin stops Brinkley in three on Solo Boxeo

Peter Quillin scored the most significant victory of his career by stopping former title challenger Jesse Brinkley in the third round of a scheduled 10-round Solo Boxeo main event in Reno, Nev., on Friday.

The undefeated middleweight prospect landed a massive hook-cross combination that violently robbed Brinkley of his legs with less than a minute left in the third round. Quillin (24-0, 18 knockouts) stayed on top of Brinkley and landed hard accurate rights, lefts and uppercuts as the 34-year-old veteran reeled into a corner where referee Joe Cortez intervened, ending the contest at 2:34 of the round.

Brinkley (35-7, 22 KOs) does not possess Quillin’s size and impressive athleticism, but the 15-year veteran was expected to go quality rounds with the 27-year-old New Yorker, who is now based in the L.A. area.

Brinkley lasted until the ninth round against formidable titleholder Lucian Bute last October, his last bout going into Friday’s fight. Before that loss the popular northern Nevada native had won nine in a row, including a few impressive outings against younger talents.

However, Brinkley was unable to compete with Quillin, who rocked him with a right cross in the first round and consistently beat him to the punch. The one-sided nature of the Friday’s victory suggests that Quillin might be ready to take on a top-10 middleweight contender.

In the co-featured bout of the Telefutura-televised card, junior lightweight prospect Lonnie Smith won a hard-fought six-round unanimous decision over David Rodela.

Smith (13-2-2, 9 KOs), of Las Vegas, loaded up with nearly every punch he threw and was reckless at times, but the judges rewarded his consistent aggression and the many hard punches -- his left hookin  particular -- that he landed.

Rodela (15-4-4, 6 KOs), of Oxnard, Calif., boxed well in spots and fought tit-for-tat with Smith in entertaining spurts. The 5-foot-11 boxer utilized his jab, footwork and angles to measure and set up the often on-rushing Smith with counter punches, but he was outworked and out-muscled whenever they battled in close.

Smith won by scores of 59-55 (twice) and 58-56.