By Ryan Songalia
New York City favorite Curtis Stevens isn't yet ready to call it curtains on "Showtime."
The 26-year-old Stevens (21-3, 15 KO) will make his first appearance since January of 2010 on November 26 at the Utica Auditorium in Utica, N.Y.
Stevens' trainer/adviser Andre Rozier said the opponent will likely be Dennis Sharpe of Bayonne, N.J., who enters with a record of 17-8-3 (4 KO). All of Sharpe's eight defeats have come in his last eight bouts, including a first round knockout loss to James Kirkland in his last bout.
The 5-foot-7 Stevens will be making a long-overdue descent to the middleweight limit after a career spent at the super middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. This next bout will be at a weight limit of 163 pounds.
"I think he will be truly explosive and he's always exciting," said Rozier of the drop in weight. "The only bout I can really recall that wasn't exciting was the [Andre] Dirrell bout. We're going to bring him to the weight division where I think he'll be a force and a factor."
The nearly two year layoff was due in part to the aftermath of Stevens' demoralizing defeat to Jesse Brinkley in an IBF super middleweight title eliminator, which would have set him up for a title shot with Lucian Bute had he won. That loss came just after Stevens' best performance, a third round knockout of previously unbeaten Pole Piotr Wilczewski.
Stevens was also entangled in a promotional dispute with Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing, which Rozier said he cleared up a few weeks ago.
"Joe and I spoke on the night that [Demetrius] Andrade beat [Grady] Brewer and we came to an agreement which was that is good for both parties," said Rozier. "It was no hard arguments to it, it was just clean cut and concise. As always, I have a great relationship with Joe and everything worked out well. In business as in life, things don't always work out. Everyone will move in their own direction."
Stevens says the defeat to Brinkley hasn't hurt his confidence.
"Losing to Brinkley didn't deteriorate me or my lifestyle, it just made me stronger because I know now what to do and what not to do. Just don't take anything too light and just stay focused when I'm in the ring."
Rozier says the card will also feature popular fighters from Upstate New York Mike Faragon and Andy Mejias, plus New York City prospects Anthony Irons and Joel Castillo.
Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and contributes to GMA News and the Filipino Reporter newspaper in New York City. He can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com. An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSongalia.