The Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam-Curtis Stevens bout has garnered a lot of attention as a "can't miss" type of bout. It is an evenly-matched bout where the winner gains the opportunity to fight for a world title. The undercard of the King Sports Worldwide event could be just as competitive on paper.
When asked who he thought would win the Sam Soliman-Jermain Taylor middleweight title fight, contender Curtis Stevens made it clear he’s still trying to figure how that IBF middleweight title fight was even scheduled. “Jermain Taylor, I don’t even know how he came into the picture – Al Haymon and his bullsh*t,” Stevens told BoxingScene.com. “This sh*t has got to be stopped. I don’t know where the f** he came from. I heard Jermain Taylor-Sam Soliman, and I was like, ‘What the f**? Who the f***? How much money did they put up for this bullsh*t?
Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam’s two children, aged four and two, are over 5,600 miles away in Seine-Saint Denis, France, and the fact that he hasn’t been able to see them in months has made him one angry dad. “It’s part of the sacrifice for my family,” N’Dam said Wednesday from his Southern California camp heading into his ESPN2-televised Oct. 1 IBF middleweight title eliminator (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT), “and the only guy who’s going to pay for that is Curtis Stevens in the ring.”
Former WBO middleweight champion Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam (30-1, 18 KOs) is one week away from his IBF middleweight title eliminator against Curtis Stevens (27-4. 20 KOs), which will be televised next Wednesday, Oct. 1 on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. N'Dam has been training at The Rock Boxing Gym in Carson, California. Photos courtesy of King Sports Worldwide.
Bill "Two Scoops" Emes catches up with Curtis Stevens to discuss his upcoming middleweight world title eliminator against Hassan N'dam, training since his last fight, feelings on N'dam, the purse bid for the fight, the loss that N'dam suffered to WBO champion Peter Quillin, the chin of N'dam, things he can exploit in the style of N'dam, the loss his suffered to WBA/IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, Golovkin's victory over Daniel Geale, and more.
The IBF middleweight title eliminator between Hassan N'Dam and Curtis Stevens finally is set. The bout will headline ESPN2's Friday Night Fights from The Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, on Oct. 1, N'Dam's manager Gary Hyde told BoxingScene.com on Wednesday. The winner of the matchup will be the mandatory to 160-pound beltholder Sam Soliman. "Myself and Hassan are super confident that he will be victorious when he fights Curtis Stevens in their final eliminator Oct. 1st," Hyde said. "Hassan's powerful promoter Michael King won the bid to host the show which will give Hassan home advantage."
When a purse bid was held in mid-July for an elimination bout between middleweights Curtis Stevens and Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam, the somewhat surprising result was that Main Events (which promotes Stevens) came up short and N’Jikam’s promoter, Michael King, won the right to stage the fight. King had bid $80,000, while Main Events had bid $62,000, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. Main Events will instead feature other fighters on its Sept. 20 show on the NBC Sports Network.
According to Gary Hyde, manager of former WBO middleweight champion Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam (30-1, 18KOs), King Sports have submitted the winning purse bid for his fighter's final IBF eliminator with Curtis Stevens (27-4, 20KOs). The date of the fight, says Hyde, is September 20th in Santa Monica, California. N'Dam showed a lot of heart when he lost the WBO title in 2012. He was dropped six times by Peter Quillin, who couldn't stop N'Dam and had to settle for a twelve round unanimous decision. Stevens (27-4, 20KOs) challenged WBA/IBO champion Gennady Golovkin last November and was stopped in eight rounds.