By Jake Donovan

Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam was made well aware of the risks heading into his Oct. ’12 middleweight title fight with Peter Quillin. The healing process from oral surgery wasn’t quite in line with where he needed to be on fight night, and even his own promoter discouraged the thought of going through with the bout.

Had he not, the defending titlist knew it would have been a moment in his career he’d forever regret.

“I really didn’t think anything of the loss that night,” N’Dam N’Jikam says of the lone defeat of his career. The setback didn’t come from a lack of trying; the French-Cameroonian boxer climbed off the canvas a total of six times to otherwise offer a surprisingly competitive performance.

In the end, Quillin won by wide scores, though the fight was close in terms of rounds won by each. Still, moral victories do not equal actual wins, and the end result was N’Dam N’Jikam losing his alphabet title in the bout, which was part of the inaugural boxing card at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

“My promoter warned me about it beforehand, that I was making a mistake going through with the fight,” N’Dam N’Jikam recalls. “But now I’m right back in line for a title and feel better than I ever have in my boxing life.”

The motivation for getting in peak physical condition comes in the form of a title eliminator bout, as he faces Curtis Stevens at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. (Wednesday, ESPN2, 9:00PM ET/6:00PM PT). Three straight wins have put N’Dam N’Jikam (30-1, 18KOs) right back in contention, though he once again has to go through a dangerous punching middleweight from New York to get there.

Barring an impromptu trip to the oral surgeon or any other bizarre doctor visit, N’Dam N’Jikam likes his chances in this one.

“I cannot express how great I feel,” the 30-year old former titlist insists. “I haven’t been in this good of shape since I was 20 years old.”

The frame of N’Dam N’Jikam ten years ago was in necessary peak condition as he represented Cameroon in the 2004 Athens Olympics. The middleweight field was one of the deepest in recent memory, a group that included: currently unbeaten middleweight titlist Gennady Golovkin; Andre Dirrell; former light heavyweight king Jean Pascal; middleweight contender Andy Lee; unbeaten prospect Juan Ubaldo; Yordanis Despaigne; former super middleweight titlist Karoly Balzsay; and eventual Gold medal winner Gaydarbek Gaydarbekov.

N’Dam N’Jikam had to face three of the fighters on that list, scoring back-to-back countback wins over Ubaldo and Lee to advance to the quarterfinals before falling short versus Gaydarbekov, who two fights later topped Golovkin in the Olympic middleweight finals.

The bout was N’Dam N’Jikam’s last as an amateur, turning pro later that year in France, where he since calls home. The majority of his career has taken place there, though he hasn’t fought at home in more than two years, beginning with the loss to Quillin.

Instead, he fights stateside for the third time in his past five starts, with his fourth fight under King Sports. N’Dam N’Jikam was introduced to promoter Michael King by his longtime manager Gary Hyde, who also guides the career of – among others – current World super bantamweight king Guillermo Rigondeaux.

His debut under King Sports informally came in his first fight following the Quillin loss, though the in-person appearance this past April helped further firm the relationship.

“The first event at Barker Hangar (where Wednesday’s fight also takes place) blew my mind,” N’Dam N’Jikam admits of the night, having scored a 10-round shutout over Fulgencio Zuniga. “For a non-televised show, it was extraordinary. With ESPN2 behind this event, it has to be even better.”

So too, will have to be N’Dam N’Jikam’s performance. While a three-fight win streak precedes the title eliminator, the rule of thumb in sports remains the same in the court of public opinion: you’re only as good as the last time your viewing audience saw you perform.

For most fans in the states who judge fighters solely on what they can watch on television, that would be his loss to Quillin. It’s an unfair perception, but only serves as additional motivation for N’Dam N’Jikam to rise to the occasion, especially given what’s at stake.

A win by the former titlist puts him in line for the winner of next Wednesday’s title fight between Sam Soliman and Jermain Taylor, which also airs on ESPN2. The string of events gives N’Dam N’Jikam plenty of reason to deliver a career-best performance, which makes it a good thing that he enters the bout fully confident. While never of the belief that he will lose a fight, the first move in his favor came with securing the bout itself.

“I was so happy when I heard that Michael won the purse bid,” N’Dam N’Jikam admits, referring to King Sports pulling off a shocker in outbidding Main Events, Stevens’ promoter for the right to promote the fight.

Had Main Events won the bid, the fight would have most likely landed somewhere on the East Coast – as close to home as possible for Stevens – and have aired on the company’s NBC Sports Network Fight Night series. Instead, it’s Stevens who hits the road while N’Dam N’Jikam gets as close to a home game as he can possibly enjoy these days.

“Michael winning the bid, it was like the first victory for us in this fight,” N’Dam N’Jikam suggests. “The second victory will be when I win the fight and celebrate with my promoter.”

The last time N’Dam N’Jikam was able to celebrate a win with title fight implications came well over two years ago. A near-shutout over then-unbeaten Max Bursak in May ’12 established his position as one of the leading middleweights in the world, only to get knocked from his perch in the loss to Quillin, his lone defeat as a pro.

Three subsequent wins look good on paper, but now is the time to look good in living color.

“I'm really happy. It's been my dream to fight again on U.S. television and show the world what I am capable of.”

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com, as well as the Records Keeper for the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and a member of Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox