FORMER IBF Middleweight Champion David Lemieux (36-3, 32 KOs) will defend his NABO Middleweight title against Curtis ”The Cerebral Assassin” Stevens (29-5, 21 KOs) on Saturday, March 11 at Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York and televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark. The two athletes had their first face off during the Montreal press conference held Thursday.
“After all this talk, here we are. I’m so excited that this fight will finally be happening. We have big plans for 2017 and this will be the first step. I will make sure to take care of Stevens on March 11. Curtis Stevens came knocking on the wrong door,” Lemieux said.
“We didn’t refuse any fight. Nobody ducked you. We wanted the negotiations to be fair. So here we are. The fight is on. I am going to be ready. This fight is not going to go your way. It’s going to be a much harder fight than you are expecting. It’s not going to end well for you. This is a fight where I am going to be well prepared for. 2017 is going to be a big year for me and Steven is the first step. Then I will have much bigger steps to take care of. I’m going to be victorious. I’m going to be vicious. It’s a fight that all the fans will want to see. Stevens comes to fight. I come to fight. We’ll see who is stronger, who takes the punches better. It’s going to be exciting.”
Stevens promised, “It should be an excellent fight. He comes to fight. I come to fight. It should be a move to move battle. You are going to want to see this.”
Lemieux’s trainer Marc Ramsay added, “This is a fight that boxing fans have been wanting to see for a long time. It didn’t pan out before now due to administrative reasons, because David was going after bigger fish. The timing is perfect. This is a fight which guarantees fireworks. What we have here are two good fighters and two great punchers.
“David resumed training in the gym almost immediately after his last fight because we knew a date would be announced soon. We didn’t waste any time and we are ahead of schedule in terms of our training program. We know Curtis quite well. He came over on numerous occasions for camps as a sparring partner. So we know what kind of challenge lies ahead and we expect David Lemieux to come up with a big win.”
