WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) stayed unbeaten on Saturday night with a 10th round knockout win over Shawn Porter (31-4-1, 17 KOs) at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas.… read more “Terence Crawford vs. Shawn Porter – Live results from Las Vegas”
IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs) looked in superb shape in weighing in at a 247.8 pounds for his title defense against the less the svelte 268 pound Andy Ruiz Jr.… read more “Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz – Weigh-in results”
Eddie Hearn, Matchroom Boxing Managing Director:
“Welcome welcome and what an honour it is to be sitting here in Madison Square Garden in the theatre, where I’ve only managed to get to the theatre, in terms of promoting.… read more “Smith – N’Dam, Taylor – Persoon, Buatsi – Periban, Algieri – Coyle Final Press Conference Quotes”
The big punching David Lemieux (34-2, 31 KOs) built up an early lead and held onto it in the second half of the fight to defeat #1 IBF Hassan N’Dam (31-2, 18 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night to win the International Boxing Federation 160 pound title at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Lemieux’s left hook was a big weapon for him in this fight, as he knocked N’Dam down with it on four occasions in the fight.
The scores were 115-109, 115-109, and 114-110.
(Photo credit: Photo Credit: Eye of The Tiger Management) We are spoilt for choice as boxing fans this weekend as no fewer than three big clashes hit our screens. We of course have the PBC Broner v Porter card, as well as the “Son of God’s” return in Oakland when Andre Ward takes on Britain’s Paul Smith – who incidentally came in a whopping 4 lbs over the agreed 172 catch-weight.
However the one fight that has seemingly gone under the radar is the IBF 160 lb title fight between big -punching French-Canadian David Lemieux and France’s teak tough Hassan N’Dam. It is on Fox Sports 2 in the US and has thankfully been picked up by Boxnation in the UK.
This Saturday on June 20th, #4 IBF David Lemieux (33-2, 31 KOs) will be fighting for a world title for the first time in his eight year pro career against #1 IBF Hassan N’Dam (31-1, 18 KOs) for the vacant IBF middleweight title at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. The Lemieux vs. N’Dam fight will be televised on Fox Sports 2 and Fox Deportes.
Lemieux’s management has slowly been bringing him back since his losses to Marco Antonio Rubio and Joachim Alcine in 2011. Lemieux has since won his last eight fights against weak B and C level opposition. He hasn’t really been tested until now. N’Dam isn’t quite A-level in terms of talent, but he’s a good B level guy with excellent hand speed, and good mobility.
There have been some problems getting this fight together, promotionally – and with the rankings systems – but it would finally appear that the big punching Canadian David Lemieux (33-2, 31ko) and teak-tough Frenchman Hassan N’Dam (31-1, 18ko) are finally going to get it on – June 20, in Montreal, Quebec Canada.
For the French-Canadian fans it will certainly be a huge affair and a great fight stylistically with this fight representing the new Golden Boy Promotions signing attempting to make the jump from serious contender to bone-fide world champion.
The picture at middleweight is largely dominated by four-weight world champion Miguel Cotto and long time WBA/IBO champion Gennady Golovkin. The third man in the division has to be seen as Andy Lee after his thrilling KO of previously undefeated Matt Korobov to win the vacant WBO share of the title. Therefore the IBF title, even if it was held by someone, wouldn’t hold much weight in the middleweight picture right now as that individual would be the fourth place champion on the list, and until a unification takes place it is not likely that they would have the opportunity to move up.
A few years ago, and 8 pounds north of his current weight class, Curtis Stevens was on a path leading to nowhere fast on the world level. Stevens, known for his power in both hands, struggled mightily with the likes of Jessie Brinkley and Marcos Primera.
Tomorrow night on a special edition of ESPN Boxing, Michael King of King Sports presents another great night of fights from Santa Monica, California. Featherweights Miguel Marriago (18-0, 16KO) and Christopher Martin (28-3-3, 9KO) open the telecast, followed by welterweights Frederick Lawson (22-0, 20KO) and Ray Narh (26-5, 21KO). The main event features an IBF middleweight title eliminator between Hassan N’Dam (30-1, 18KO) and Curtis Stevens (27-4, 20KO). Earlier this evening the fighter camps and media gathered for a brief press conference and the official weigh-ins.
Hassan N’Dam vs. Curtis Stevens, middleweights