by David P. Greisman
Though Curtis Stevens’ next fight won’t be on HBO, promoter Kathy Duva of Main events is hoping that the aggressive middleweight will be back on the network later in 2014.
There had been hopes that Stevens’ next fight would be against former titleholder Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam.
“Unfortunately HBO was not inclined to purchase that fight, and I can’t afford it on NBC [Sports Network],” Duva told BoxingScene.com on Feb. 28. “So hopefully it happens, maybe later in the year.”
Duva said she expects Stevens to return sometime between April and June on an NBC Sports Network broadcast.
“We’re still working on the fight, but we intend to bring him back, and I think by the end of the year he’ll be fighting on HBO again,” she said.
Stevens last appeared on HBO in November 2013, when he faced middleweight titleholder Gennady Golovkin and lost when his corner stopped the bout after the eighth round. He came back this past January and put Patrick Majewski down three times in the opening minute of the opening round. That moved his record to 26-4 with 19 knockouts.
“I think he’s exciting. He’s a fun fighter. I think he fits in with a lot of the middleweights,” Duva said. “Just because he lost one fight to one middleweight doesn’t somehow disqualify him. You know, a big puncher has always got a career. He came back right after that loss and knocked out a guy in what, less than a minute, Patrick Majewski. Nobody expected that to happen. Patrick should’ve gone rounds with him, at least.
“I think it shows that he certainly got over the loss mentally, and I think he’s somebody who has a role in the middleweight division against a lot of different guys in some terrific fights going forward,” Duva said.
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