Canadian middleweight banger David Lemieux made short work of his hard-hitting American counterpart Curtis Stevens in upstate New York on Saturday night.
The build-up to this clash of two thunderous punchers, contenders, and victims of Gennady Golovkin was dominated by hometown fighter Stevens' incessant thrash-talk, but former IBF World champion Lemieux sent the smack talk back down where it came from with one of the most violent left hooks you'll ever see after just three action-packed rounds.
Frightening scenes ensued, as Stevens lay sprawled across the canvas beneath the bottom rope, totally unconscious. Emergency personnel ringside tended to the 29-6 (21KOs) Brownsville native while Lemieux, whose record improves to 37-3 (33KOs) told HBO's Max Kellerman that he had done what he warned Stevens he was going to do, but hoped his opponent was in good health and made a swift recovery.
Stevens was removed on a stretcher, but having regained consciousness, signalled to his promoter Kathy Duva that he was okay.
It was another highlight-reel knockout for Lemieux, who was stopped by Gennady Golovkin in the eighth round of their world title contest at Madison Square Garden in October 2015.
David Lemieux vs Curtis Stevens KO of 2017
Incidentally, it took Golovkin eight rounds to deal with Stevens in 2013, in a fight which produced one of the most iconic boxing images of the past decade; Steven's shocked face when he tasted Golovkin's left hook in the second round.
Lemieux called for a rematch with Triple G in the lead-up to his own contest with Stevens, and while an impressive KO will have bumped him up the pecking order, it's likely that Golovkin will feel he has nothing left to prove by rematching Lemieux who he systematically beat into submission 18 months ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo7PX5yho2A
