The referee Charlie Fitch didn?t bother with the count. Stevens was unconscious before he hit the deck and was out cold for four minutes?
Saturday night at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York, in a fight televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark, former IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux (37-3, 33 KOs), the knockout artist from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, knocked out WBC Continental Americas middleweight champion Curtis Stevens (29-6, 21 KOs), from Brooklyn, New York, at 1:59 of the third round.
Fighting out of the red corner in black trunks with gold trim, Lemieux asserted himself in the first round. He landed a big right hand at 1:25 that drove his opponent to the ropes. Stevens covered up and got in a few shots of his own, but with the round drawing to a close, Lemieux hurt Stevens again, this time with a big left hook. Lemieux threw a career high 117 punches and landed 42 of them (35.9%) in round one. The war was on and it looked like Lemieux was winning the battle.
Stevens, fighting out of the blue corner in white trunks with black and gold trim, brought his heart and power with him into the ring. He landed some solid shots of his own in the first two rounds, but Lemieux was doing most of the damage. The Brownsville Bomber was still in it, however, albeit not for long.
Between rounds two and three Lemieux?s cornerman told him, ?I want you to work the jab. You have to keep some distance between you and him. That?s the drill: box, box, box and box.?
Lemieux did not take those words to heart. Stevens started the third by landing a left hook. Lemieux connected with several jabs. He landed a straight right hand followed by a left hook at the same time Stevens launched a left hook of his own. Lemieux?s landed first and Stevens went down hard. The referee Charlie Fitch didn?t bother with the count. Stevens was unconscious before he hit the deck and was out cold for four minutes.
It wasn?t until he was strapped to a stretcher to be carried from the ring to Oneida Medical Center that Stevens raised his hands to indicate that he was alive.
?I told you what I was going to do tonight and I did it,? said Lemieux after the fight. ?I hope he?s healthy. It was checkmate, it?s a perfect connection. It?s what we practiced and what we?ve been looking to do.?
Lemieux is back in a big way and it felt like he?d never been away.
?I told you guys where I was going to be and I said it and I did it. I think the fans want to see great fights and I have great fights to give.?
According to CompuBox, Lemieux landed 93 off 266 total punches (35%) to 39 of 105 (34.3%) for Stevens. Lemieux landed 26 of 146 jabs (17.8%) to 4 of 23 (17.4%) for his opponent. Lemieux also connected with 67 of 120 power punches (58%) to 32 of 82 (39%) for Curtis Stevens, and the last one made all the difference.
Lemieux has already fought and lost to Gennady Golovkin. Tonight he earned his shot at Canelo Alvarez.
