David Lemieux vs. Curtis Stevens Set For March 11, HBO

By Francisco Salazar

Middleweight contenders David Lemieux and Curtis Stevens will square off on March 11, Golden Boy Promotions announced Monday morning.

The 12 round bout will take place at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, N.Y. The bout will air live on an HBO 'Boxing After Dark' broadcast.

The fight matches two of the hardest-hitting punchers at 160 pounds and could be a candidate for 'Fight of the Year.'

Both fighters have gone back and forth on social media, but boxing fans will likely get excited both will step inside the ring and exchange punches instead of words.

Lemieux (36-3, 32 KOs) is coming off a 10 round unanimous decision over Cristian Rios in his last fight on October 22 in his hometown of Montreal.

"The time for talking is done," said Lemieux in a media release. "After many long months of hearing Curtis yell about all the things he's going to do in the ring, I'm really looking forward to shutting his mouth on March 11. I've told everyone my goal is to once again become middleweight champion of the world. Curtis is in the way, and I'm going to go right through him."

Like Lemieux, Stevens (29-5, 21 KOs) has won two bouts in a row.

In his last bout on November 19, Stevens dropped James De La Rosa en route to a 10 round unanimous decision win. During the fight, Stevens claimed he hurt his right hand.

"The wait is finally over!" said Stevens, who is promoted by Main Events. "No more talking. My hands will do the talking on March 11."

"We often see fighters pretend not to like each other to help draw an audience," said Oscar De La Hoya, CEO and Chairman of Golden Boy Promotions. "These two guys aren't faking it; they don't like each other at all. Given the thunder each holds in both hands and their desire to make a statement in the middleweight division, I think fans are going to be in for a knockout - and a spectacular one at that."

No word yet on which Golden Boy and Main Events boxers will fight on the undercard.Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing