By Gav Duthie: The IBF have a bit of egg on their face as they frantically continue the search for an opponent to fight for their version of the middleweight title recently stripped from Jermaine Taylor. Cameroonian fighter Hassan N’Dam 31-1 (18) has already been confirmed as one half of the fight but nobody else seems to want to face him.
Felix Sturm had already turned it down before Brit Billy Joe Saunders did the same the other night. Who are the other contenders?
Who Else?
Hassan N’Dam was already due to fight for the title anyway after he bested hard hitting Curtis Stevens in an eliminator over a 12 round Unanimous decision. If the IBF were to simply carry on down their list of rankings the next in line would be David Lemieux followed by former champion Sam Soliman. Sergio Mora could also be in the mix as he was due to fight for the title before Taylor’s arrest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OImFXDfUK9I
IBF mistake
To be honest whoever they decide to ask next I can’t see them being snubbed again. It was careless of them to ask Sturm and Saunders in the first place because they clearly had already established other career goals. Felix Sturm had already fought German compatriot Robert Stieglitz to a draw and is chasing another megabucks fight with Armenian born German based champion King Arthur Abraham. Sturm is already a 4-time middleweight champion so was unlikely to become weak at the knees with the offer of another shot. Billy Joe Saunders is slightly more surprising but understandably he has already set his sights on the WBO. If WBO champion Andy Lee is triumphant over Peter Quillin then he can look forward to a big domestic clash and if Quillin wins then that fight would also be worth a lot more than Hassan N’Dam.
Risk v Reward
Unfortunately N’Dam although a talented boxer is not a big enough name in the sport. He has only lost once against Peter Quillin. Despite being knocked down 6 times in the fight the judges scorecards actually weren’t that far apart. N’Dam is dangerous so the likes of Sturm and Saunders likely don’t fancy taking the risk. I would imagine that David Lemieux would fancy a title shot after signing with Golden Boy and exciting in his win over Gabriel Rosado. Sergio Mora has been a boxing footnote since the Contender series even if he was briefly a world champion when he beat Vernon Forrest so he wouldn’t pass up the chance. Soliman has lost 12 fights and his in his 40s now so he would take any chance he can get. Being that he has effectively beaten Sturm twice (one changed to no-contest) he arguably should have been offered the chance before. The reward of being a potential world champion is more important for these guys than the risk of fighting N’Dam.
Lemieux
The IBF must have felt they needed a popular fighter to earn them some decent money and promotion. I think in that case they should ask David Lemieux next. Boxing is getting more and more popular in Canada and he is an exciting prospect with a big punch. Whatever they do though they need to make sure the next guy says yes.
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