By Jake Donovan

Curtis Stevens has fallen short several times when stepping up in class, but his ability to end any given fight with one punch has prompted a "high risk, low reward" label whenever his name is mentioned to other middleweights. 

It's a boost for any boxer's ego to be held in such regard, but also serves as a nightmare for those tasked with securing your next fight. Needless to say, it's been a struggle for Jolene Mizzone, vice president of operations for Main Events and widely known as one of the game's top matchmakers. 

Save for a brief foray into the world of Big Knockout Boxing (BKB), it hasn't been easy on Mizzone and the Main Events staff in getting its compact middleweight from the Brownsville section of Brooklyn back into a traditional ring. An exhaustive search finally ended with Patrick Teixeira, an unbeaten southpaw from Brazil agreed to terms for a May 7 crossroads bout at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The scheduled 10-round bout will air live on Pay-Per-View in supporting capacity to World middleweight champion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez' first title defense as he faces welterweight contender Amir Khan at a maximum catchweight of 155 pounds. 

It took two tries to make this fight happen. The concept was first floated by Main Events at the start of 2016, after several other offers made by the New Jersey-based promotional outfit were either ignored or flat-out rejected. 

"[T]he names that come to mind are David Lemieux, Gabe Rosado (whom Stevens fought to a draw in BKB last April, but couldn't get to commit to a fight in a boxing ring), James Kirkland, and (WBO middleweight titlist Billy Joe) Saunders," Mizzone told BoxingScene.com. "Curtis' name was sent to their promoters and he was willing to fight each one of them."

Stevens (27-5, 20KOs) has personally campaigned through social media for fights against all of the aforementioned. All that came of his efforts were several entertaining posts and an outpouring of support from his online followers. 

His upcoming bout with Teixeira (26-0, 22KOs) will mark 17 months since his last prizefight in a traditional boxing ring. That occasion ended in a loss, as he dropped a 12-round decision to Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam in their Oct. '14 middleweight title unification clash.

A win would have placed Stevens squarely in place for a shot at Lemieux for a vacant middleweight belt. However, he struggled to recapture the magic that came in his last win - a come-from-behind 10th round knockout of Tureano Johnson in April '14, two years to the day this past Monday. Stevens was down on all three scorecards - 89-82 (twice) and 87-84 - when he landed a fight-altering left hook to prompt a stoppage win with less than a minute to go in their NBC Sports Network-televised affair. 

Despite having now gone two years since his last win, Stevens and his handlers all but had to give away the store in order to land his next ring assignment. The hope was to have this matchup materialize sooner, although the timing of the fight makes sense given the business model.

"I talked to Eric Gomez (vice president of Golden Boy Promotions, Teixeira's stateside promoter) back in January about a possible Texeira/Stevens fight, but the timing didn't work," Mizzone revealed. "So when this PPV show came up, Eric and I talked again and made the deal within a couple of days."

Stevens vs. Teixeira is part of a four-fight telecast on which the staff at Golden Boy prides itself for presenting a night of fan-friendly matchups.

The main event has been hit or miss with the boxing public - some love the star power that comes with the fight, while others view it as a physical mismatch. Lemieux is expected to bounce back strong versus Tapia, who at the very least is well aware that he enters the bout with a lot to prove following a shocking and disappointing knockout loss to Michel Soro last May. 

A welterweight clash between hard-luck contender Mauricio Herrera and Frankie Gomez - an unbeaten but troubled prospect whose toughest opponent remains a weight scale - carries plenty of intrigue and a number of potential outcomes. 

Several variables surround the other two PPV undercard bouts, but the greatest two-way risk factor comes in this particular matchup. Stevens is at must-win status versus a rising talent in the division, while Teixeira puts his unbeaten record and unproven chin on the line against a proven puncher who boasts the ability to end any given fight with one clean shot.

The fact that both understood the two-way risk factor involved - and for little more than bragging rights without the guarantee of a big fight in the future - provides a major boost in the arm for those who are often tasked with overcoming all that is wrong with the sport.

"When both guys want to fight competitive fights and believe in themselves it makes it a lot easier to make fights," notes Mizzone. "You have a fighter with an undefeated record and a guy who has never turned down a challenge, it's a recipe for a great fight in the ring.

"This is your classic upcoming prospect against the veteran. I wish more fighters had the mind set of both Patrick Texiera and Curtis Stevens. The hunger in both fighters is real!"

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox