Former IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux (37-3, 33 KOs) Full Fight TKO replay, result, recap March 11, 2017 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.
The referee Charlie Fitch immediately halted the fight at 1:59 of round 3. Stevens eventually came to and was said to be talking.
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.
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.
Date: 2017-03-11
Where: Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York, USA
Division: vacant WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title, WBC Continental Americas middleweight title.
Result: Lemieux knocked the 32-year-old Stevens completely out with a left hook to the head in round 3 time ( 1:59 of round 3.)
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.
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.
