Lemieux: Stevens is a Clown; I'm Gonna Punish, Destroy Him

By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – The festering animosity among David Lemieux and Curtis Stevens made promoters keep them separated Wednesday.

Montreal’s Lemieux and Brooklyn’s Stevens spoke to reporters at different times inside a Manhattan restaurant so that they didn’t occupy the same room. Lemieux made it abundantly clear during his session that Stevens’ trash talk has offended him and makes him want to “destroy” Stevens in their 12-round middleweight fight Saturday night.

Lemieux (36-3, 32 KOs) cannot wait to put his hands on Stevens (29-5, 21 KOs) in an HBO “Boxing After Dark” main event at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York.

“Actually, he has talked a lot of trash,” Lemieux said. “I haven’t really been replying. Seeing these things [on social media], I had to laugh, like this guy’s a clown. This is not WWF. This is real. This is boxing. You can go in there and your life can be in trouble. So I’m gonna punish him, I’m gonna hurt him and I’m gonna destroy him. That’s what I’m gonna do on Saturday.”

The 28-year-old Lemieux, who’s listed as nearly a 3-1 favorite, believes Stevens’ excessive bravado is a façade for a fighter that actually lacks confidence.

“I think he’s fake,” Lemieux said. “That’s why he’s gotta talk so much blah, blah, blah. A real fighter doesn’t need to hype up that much, when everybody knows what’s coming. We’ve got two fighters that can punch. One’s got a heart and the other one, there’s not so much. I don’t know. That’s his problem. I don’t really have to do with what he says, and what he does. I don’t really listen. There’s a very easy saying, a lion doesn’t lose sleep over the opinion of a sheep. It’s just a saying, but it’s kind of true.”

Lemieux and Stevens both have been stopped by middleweight knockout artist Gennady Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs), but Lemieux considers himself a better fighter than Stevens. Marc Ramsey, Lemieux’s trainer, commended Stevens’ boxing ability, often overlooked due to his powerful left hook.

Lemieux, however, hopes Stevens stands and trades with him.

“I would love to,” Lemieux replied when asked if he wants to slug it out with Stevens. “Whatever he’s got, I’ll show you better. I’m not worried. He’s a solid guy, but we’re extremely confident in the way we’re going in and we’re not going in to lose or to look bad. … I’m just gonna give him what he deserves. I’ve worked hard for it, and I’m ready to do what I’ve gotta do on Saturday. I’m very confident.”

HBO’s doubleheader is scheduled to start at 11 p.m. ET on Saturday night. It’ll begin with a 10-round bout between Cuban junior lightweight contender Yuriorkis Gamboa (25-1, 17 KOs) and Nicaragua’s Rene Alvarado (24-7, 16 KOs).

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.