At any other time and on any other network, making a fight between hard-hitting Middleweights David Lemieux and Curtis Stevens would have been a no brainer. The two looked stunning in their last performances, each scoring impressive knockouts, and are inching their way back to title contention.
The problem is that this is 2016 and the network is HBO, and the network?s zombie-structured budget has left no room for fights from now until the end of the year.
Both fighters appeared on the undercard of Alvarez/Khan and put on excellent performances that instantly created buzz for a fight between the two of them. As time went on, both Stevens and Lemieux took shots at each other over social media and it seemed to be a natural fight to make.
Unfortunately, the battle between Gennady Golovkin?s biggest punching leftovers was not to be. Originally the bout was thought to take place in Montreal in October, but when it was clear that HBO couldn?t front the money to air it, the efforts to reschedule the fight on the upcoming Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev pay per view fell flat when Lemieux did not like what he was going to be paid.
Granted, a fight in Canada would?ve been a bigger payday for Lemieux which is why he will end up fighting there anyway against the unknown, unheralded and quick to forget when he loses Cristian Rios. Stevens finds himself the sole victim of these turn of events and is now left to ponder what direction to take before the year is out.
Lemieux/Stevens is just another chapter of bizarre choices made by the wonky management at HBO who can no longer expect to be taken seriously by calling themselves the ?Network of Champions? in a year that they are going to wish they can forget.
