Tonight, Wednesday, October 1, 2014, we get a special edition of boxing on ESPN2, when Curtis “The Hell Hit Me?” Stevens faces off with Hassan N’Dam in a Middleweight title eliminator. Stevens (27-4, 20 KOs) is a hard hitter who makes up for his short stature (he’s only 5’7″) by mauling his way in and landing bombs.
N’Dam (30-1, 18 KOs) is the more typical boxer/puncher, who is equally effective fighting on both the outside and inside.
To break down these two fighters, we’ll take a look first at who they’ve taken on in recent scraps. These two are probably best known not for any major wins, but for how they’ve equipped themselves in losses. Stevens scored a comeback stoppage win against tough-as-nails Tureano Johnson, but his most memorable performance arguably came against “The Boogeyman” himself, Gennady Golovkin.
Stevens talked some smack prior to their fight, compelling Golovkin to ask the now legendary question “you serious right now?” Stevens was broken and battered around the ring by GGG, but he hung in there with the near-superhuman punching power of the Kazakh for far longer than many expected. He was drilled to the canvas with a couple of nasty left hooks in the second round, but he showed courage in rising up to compose himself before eventually being stopped in the eighth.
N’Dam, a fighter from Cameroon, faced off against Peter “Money Is Overrated” Quillin back in October of 2012. Despite losing a decision and being knocked down about 217 times, N’Dam actually won a surprising amount of rounds, hanging tough with a guy who was (still is?) seemingly on the verge of stardom. The loss actually helped further his career. It should be noted that Quillin has become known for helping the careers of those he’s faced (N’Dam, Rosado) as much as he has for stunting his own goals.
N’Dam has recovered well from the first loss of his career. He’s 2-0 this year, with his last victory coming over Fulgencio Zuniga, whom he defeated by shutout decision in April.
Stevens is also unbeaten since his loss to GGG, with his last victory coming against the aforementioned Johnson in a hail mary 10th round knockout.
But it is that last fight, that come-from-behind knockout win that showcased both the good and bad about Stevens, and the reason this fight tonight might be a barnburner–Stevens is both lethal and vulnerable at the same time.
Stevens’ punching power is exquisite. He may not be at the absolute peak of the sport in terms of home run power, but he’s a banger capable of ending fights with one shot. The problem is that he too often looks for that big one to land, sacrificing rounds by remaining stagnant while his opponent scores points. He seems to want to counter punch his way to a knockout instead of breaking his man down with activity before ending him.
Looking at the Johnson fight, Stevens was outboxed over long stretches, with Johnson landing shots to the body and head while pressuring the hell out of Stevens. If Johnson had been able to hang on for that final 45 seconds or so after being nailed with a wicked left hook, or if the ref had let him continue like many felt he should have, Stevens would be coming off another loss.
That fight may provide the blueprint for how tonight’s affair will go. N’Dam is the taller, rangier fighter, and his handlers probably picked up on the fact that Stevens did not handle Johnson’s pressure well. N’Dam will fight off the jab and body shots in an attempt to walk Stevens down. The key off course, is to do this without getting his head torn off in the process.
N’Dam showed heart in rising each time Quillin dropped him, but he certainly left questions about his chin. Having chin questions while going into a fight with Curtis Stevens–of “Chin Checker” fame–is like having drug issues before partying with Charlie Sheen–bad things are going to happen.
It’s up to N’Dam to avoid the bombs coming back at him while landing enough of his own.
We know that Stevens can hurt N’Dam, but can N’Dam hurt Stevens?
To gauge Stevens’ chin, we can forget about the knockout loss to GGG. The only question left of Golovkin is whether or not he’d need one punch or two to render livestock unconscious.
Stevens was whacked and hurt a few times against Jesse Brinkley, though that was at Super Middleweight, and Johnson appeared to have him buzzed a few times as well. If N’Dam can get Stevens’ respect with his own punching power, it will have huge ramifications on the fight.
We’ve discussed power at length, but what about technique? N’Dam is certainly the more polished fighter. He has better footwork and agility than Stevens. The good news for Stevens is that N’Dam doesn’t have to be nudged too hard to engage in an inside battle, something that should favor Stevens.
So while N’Dam should be looking to keep Stevens at arms length, Stevens will be trying to get up close and personal. Whoever wins that battle will be at a major advantage.
This fight will probably be entertaining, as both guys are usually fan-friendly fighters, but it has a chance to be an absolute war. Here’s to hoping it ends up the latter. The winner will be in line for a chance at a big payday while the loser will have a seriously uphill battle ahead of him to get back into contention.
I’ve gone back and forth on this fight, but I’m predicting that N’Dam frustrates and outboxes Stevens on his way to a victory in a fun scrap.
Hopefully tomorrow morning we’re talking about the aftermath of a brawl in which both guys looked fantastic. It would be nice to have a fight to talk about instead of the players surrounding it, like an inept ref or seemingly blind, incompetent-or-worse judging.
It would certainly be better for Teddy Atlas’ health.
