Curtis Stevens Says Ring Rust Won't Be an Issue Against Teixiera

By Corey Erdman

Curtis Stevens has taken a long road to his latest fight on May 7.

The former world title challenger will end a nearly two year layoff when he takes on undefeated Patrick Teixiera on the undercard of the Canelo Alvarez-Amir Khan middleweight title clash.

Stevens himself was recently in the middleweight title picture himself, but after a loss to Hassan N'Dam in an IBF eliminator, has been absent from the squared circle. The 31-year old says he's had major personal issues to deal with, which made focusing on boxing relatively impossible. Stevens claims that the mother of his daughter ran away with their child for a year and a half, but that the situation is now resolved.

“I just gotta be ready. Sometimes I wasn't mentally in the game. I was always physically ready, but I wasn't always mentally there,” admits Stevens.

The Brooklyn native is no stranger to lengthy hiatuses. Following a 2010 loss to Jesse Brinkley, he was out of action for two years, but returned to go on the most impressive run of his career. In truth however, he's only been out of the boxing ring for that long. In April of 2015, Stevens faced Gabe Rosado on a BKB pay -per-view event, plying his trade inside of the company's trademark modified pit.

“You're a fighter. Whether it's a squared circle or triangle, you're in there to fight. But the pit was a little different because you didn't have any ropes to lay on, and sometimes I like to take a little rest and lay on the ropes,” said Stevens.

Not only has Stevens had to battle inactivity, but he's had to acclimate himself to the traditional ring once again. According to him, the best way to combat that: Simply step inside the ropes as often as possible.

“I remember before I used to just train when I had a fight coming up. But as you get older, you have to stay active. I've been in the gym, I've been running, I've been sparring. I was actually just with Canelo, getting him ready for Cotto. So I've been active,” said Stevens. “Me physically being out of the ring without headgear and 10 oz. gloves, yes, that's the ring rust, but I've been sparring consistently since (I last fought)."