By Jeff Aranow: Former IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux (36-3, 32 KOs) says he’s going to hurt his opponent Curtis Stevens (29-5, 21 KOs) this Saturday night when they meet each other on HBO Boxing After Dark (BAD) at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York. Lemieux, 28, doesn’t like the way that Stevens has trash talked him off and on as they’ve prepared for their 12 round fight, and he says he’s going to take it out on him inside the ring.
Lemieux, #3 WBC, needs a win against Stevens to keep in position to get an eventual rematch with WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin. Lemieux lost his IBF title to Golovkin in 2015, and he believes he can do better in a rematch.
“The way he talks, the way he’s so disrespectful. I’m going to put him in his place,” said Lemieux about Stevens. “Physically, I’m very ready. I’m going to hurt him very badly. I’m going to show a lot more than punching power in this fight. The fans will see, and you guys will judge by yourselves. I’ve got a lot of things to show you guys. Talk is cheap. I’ve got to show you in the ring. I’ll do it with my fists. We didn’t come here to lose. We came here to win, and we came here to win good. I’m looking for big plans ahead, but first I’ve got to take care of somebody. I want to take care of him very good and very properly. I’m extremely strong and extremely confident. So you guy enjoy the show,” said Lemieux.
Lemieux needs to make sure he doesn’t get hit with Stevenson’s big punches early, because that’s when he’s most dangerous. Stevens gets a lot of his knockouts early in his fights. Stevens struggled in his last fight against James De La Rosa in beating him by a 10 round decision after he hurt his left arm early in the fight.
Stevens looked dangerous in the first couple of rounds, but he faded badly after the 2nd. If Stevens doesn’t get to Lemieux by the 2nd round, he could wind up losing the fight like he did against Hassan N’Dam in 2014. Stevens was out-boxed by N’Dam in that fight. He was dropped in the 8th round.
Lemieux has won his last two fights against Glen Tapia and Christian Fabian Rios. Stevens is a considerable step up from those guys. Lemieux will need to make sure he’s careful inside the ring at all times, because Stevens can take his head off with one of his big shots.