David Lemieux vs. Curtis Stevens – Results

By Boxing News - 03/12/2017 - Comments

Image: David Lemieux vs. Curtis Stevens – Results

By Dan Ambrose: Former IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux (37-3, 33 KOs) scored a devastating 3rd round knockout victory over #2 WBC contender Curtis Stevens (29-6, 21 KOs) on Saturday night at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York. Lemieux knocked the 32-year-old Stevens completely out with a left hook to the head in round 3.

(Photo Credit: Tom Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions)

The shot sent Stevens down flat on his back. Stevens was totally unconscious from the shot. Stevens and Lemieux both threw left hooks at the same time. Lemieux’s got there first, even though Stevens’ left did land but it had nothing on it.

The referee Charlie Fitch immediately halted the fight at 1:59 of round 3. Stevens eventually came to and was said to be talking.

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One of the reasons why Lemieux had such an easy time in this fight tonight was the fact Stevens wasn’t throwing punches. The 5’7” Stevens was so much smaller than Lemieux. It appeared that the two of them were from different weight divisions. Lemieux looked like a super middleweight at the very least if not a light heavyweight. Stevens looked like a junior middleweight that had wondered into the wrong ring by mistake.

There was no way from the very start that Stevens was going to be able to beat Lemieux just based on the size differences between the two. Stevens had the punching power to give Lemieux problems, but he didn’t have many opportunities to let his hands go. Lemieux kept throwing so many punches, and that forced Stevens to go into his shell for long periods.

In round 1, Lemieux came out quickly unloading on Stevens with right hands to the head and hurtful left hooks to the body. Stevens backed up to the ropes and took terrible punishment. It was not the smartest thing for Stevens to do, but he was getting really hammered in the center of the ring. He must have felt that things would be easier on him if he backed up to the ropes. It was surprising that Stevens made it out of the 1st round, because he was really nailed repeatedly by big power shots from Lemieux. One big right hand in particular from Lemieux caused Stevens to stumble backwards several steps and almost fall. It looked really bad.

In round 2, Stevens came alive briefly near the end of the round and was able to land some big right hands and left hooks to the head of Lemieux. One reason why Stevens was able to land his shots is because Lemieux slowed down his punch output during this round. But still, Lemieux was able to absorb Stevens’ best shots due to his huge size. It was like watching a replay of the Saul Canelo Alvarez vs. Miguel Cotto fight. Canelo was so huge compared to the smallish Cotto in that fight. Cotto’s best punches had no effect on Canelo because he looked to be at least 15 pounds heavier than Cotto. Lemieux looked considerably bigger than Stevens in terms of his actual weight.

Lemieux, 28, came into the fight tonight looking really heavy compared to his previous fights. He looked like he might have been in the 180s or close to that. Lemieux weighed in at 159 last Friday in making weight, but he appeared really heavy. The added size didn’t appear to help Lemieux’s punching power, as he didn’t look any stronger than he had been in previous fights. He just looked heavy. It’s fortunate for Lemieux that Stevens didn’t drag him into the later rounds of the fight, because we might have seen a big upset if the fight had gone past the 6th.

“I told you what I was going to do and I did it,” said Lemieux after the fight. “I was in great shape. I had a great camp coming into the fight. He’s a strong guy, but nothing impressive and nothing that slowed me down. I told you guys where I will be. You tell me if I should be in the thick of it. Of course, we want to fight the top contenders for the title. There’s [Billy Joe] Saunders for the title. There’s [Saul] Canelo, and sure there’s the kingpin Golovkin that I would love to defeat,” said Lemieux after the fight.

Lemieux came into tonight’s fight ranked #3 by the World Boxing Council at 160. Lemieux is working for a title shot against WBC champion Gennady Golovkin. However, it’s likely that Lemieux’s promoters at Eye of the Tiger and Golden Boy Promotions will get him a shot at the likes of Canelo or WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders instead, because there’s really no point in him fighting Golovkin again anytime soon. Lemieux was arguably embarrassed by Golovkin in their fight in October 2015.

Golovkin toyed with Lemieux for 7 rounds before knocking him out in round 8. A rematch would likely be just as one-sided as their previous fight. Lemieux’s promoters are likely going to steer him in another direction. The only way I can see Lemieux fighting Golovkin again is if he puts his foot down and stubbornly insists on having that fight made. I doubt that Lemieux will do this, even though he was talking pretty boldly after the fight tonight. I think Lemieux won’t put up too much of an argument if his promoters steer him to safer waters against Canelo or Saunders.

It would be interesting to see Lemieux fight Daniel Jacobs if he loses to Golovkin on March 18. That would be a good test for Lemieux to show what he can do against Jacobs. It would be a dangerous fight, of course, but Jacobs might be softened up after Golovkin gets through with him.

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Stevens does not look like the same fighter that fought Tureano Johnson in 2014. He’s no longer putting in great performances like he did in the past. Stevens looked really bad before tonight in his fight against James De La Rosa. Stevens’ performance against De La Rosa might be the reason why he was selected by Lemieux’s promoters to fight him. If Stevens was still knocking guys out and looking outstanding, it’s hard to picture him getting the fight against Lemieux, because he would have been too risky.

Lemieux needs to start working on his weight, because he’s too puffy looking for the middleweight division. I have doubts whether Lemieux would have been able to fight hard for more than 5 or 6 rounds tonight. He’s lucky that he had a punching bag in front of him in Stevens, because if he had someone that could box him and work his body, he might have wound up gassing out in the 2nd half of the fight. Lemieux isn’t going to be able to beat Golovkin or any of the talented fighters if he comes into those fights looking as big as he was tonight. Lemieux was in denial about his weight when asked by HBO boxing analyst Max Kellerman after the fight. Lemieux was saying he’s in good shape. If he actually believes that, then he needs to watch tape of himself when he was at his best in previous years. He was a lot faster in the past when he wasn’t so heavy. Tonight, Lemieux looked like a butterball in comparison. I don’t know what he’s been eating, but he needs to trim down for his own good.

Image: David Lemieux vs. Curtis Stevens – Results

Image: David Lemieux vs. Curtis Stevens – Results

Image: David Lemieux vs. Curtis Stevens – Results

Image: David Lemieux vs. Curtis Stevens – Results