Exclusive Boxing Interview: Curtis Stevens

Photo ©Jim Everett/SaddoBoxing

Tonight on the HBO series, Boxing After Dark, Curtis “Showtime” Stevens will make his debut on the network as he faces Andre Dirrell on the undercard of the IBF Welterweight title fight between Lovemore N’Dou and Paulie Malignaggi at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT.

A Brownsville, New York native, Stevens has risen in popularity with his exposure on DiBella Entertainment’s Broadway Boxing series. He is a throwback fighter that keeps active in the ring, fighting seven times in 2006 with his last three fights that year all within a thirty day period.

Stevens has a current record of 17-1 (12), avenging his only loss in a rematch against Marcos Primera. That controversial loss could easily be viewed as a premature stoppage by the referee after he was knocked down in a fight that he was dominating and ahead on all three judges’ scorecards.

SaddoBoxing had the opportunity to speak with Stevens in an exclusive interview to discuss his upcoming fight, his view of the super middleweight division and his amateur career.

SaddoBoxing: What is your feeling about fighting Andre Dirrell?

Curtis Stevens: “I am just getting ready to go in there and do what I gotta do, training hard in camp, just ready to go in there and take him out.”

SB: How do you rate him as a fighter?

CS: “He is an excellent boxer but he hasn’t been in there with anyone, he gets tired around the fourth round so I think he is really stepping out of his league trying to fight me in a ten round fight at this point in his career.”

SB: Do you feel any additional pressure fighting on HBO?

CS: “No, no pressure I have been fighting international tournaments before, international bouts. I’m just ready to go in there and do what I gotta do; this is nothing to me whether it is Sports New York or HBO.”

SB: What can we expect to see from you during the fight?

CS: “Manslaughter, all on pressure, assault to him, maraud him with bunches of punches, just an aggressive style of fighting.”

SB: Would you care to make any predictions on the outcome?

CS: “I believe knockout first round but if I don’t catch him in the first round I give him to the sixth round and he’s gone.”

SB: You had a few fights that were at the lower end of the light heavyweight division; are you more comfortable there than at super middleweight?

CS: “I always fought super middleweight but the guys I was fighting couldn’t make the 168 mark so most of my fights I came in at 169 or 170.”

SB: How would you rate the level of competition in the super middleweight division?

CS: “It’s ok, it’s not that exciting you have guys fighting guys that aren’t really…like Joe Calzaghe he’s not fighting anyone like Jermain Taylor or Kessler, he fought Peter Manfredo. Just like Anthony and Lamont Peterson said some people right now feel it’s about money they don’t take it back to the old days where people were fighting to fight the good guys just to prove themselves, now people try to take the short way out of boxing.”

SB: Have you heard that Peter Manfredo was calling you out for a future fight?

CS: “Yeah, yeah, I know he called me out. Who has he fought? He fought on Contender; he fought Joey Spina, a washed up Scott Pemberton. I don’t understand, then he fought Calzaghe and was way out of his league and look what happened there, Calzaghe punished him with punches and the referee stopped the fight.”

SB: Is that a fight you would like to pursue?

CS: “At the end of the day, I’m the type of guy if you call me out and you wanna fight and you think you can beat me, if he wants to fight I don’t back down from no fight, if he wants to fight, I’ll show him I will knock him out of his misery too.”

SB: I’d like to give your fans an opportunity to find out about your background; how did you get started in boxing?

CS: “I started when I was five years old, I went to the gym as a little hobby, and I used to like to fight. I started training and had my first fight when I was eight and have been boxing ever since.”

SB: Did you have any fighters that you idolized when you were growing up?

CS: “Hagler, Aaron Pryor and Tyson; fighters that were ruthless and didn’t care. Like Aaron Pryor he didn’t care he would just beat you down until you didn’t want to fight anymore.

“That’s what I plan to do to Dirrell. There are four things that can happen in this fight: he is gonna get knocked out, the referee is going to stop the match, his grandfather is going to stop the match or we are going to make him quit on his stool.”

SB: Can you talk about some of the highlights of your amateur career?

CS: “I won every tournament that there was in the amateurs. Four internationally, I fought in Panama for the Olympic qualifier, I had an awesome amateur career over 300 fights. I had the third most knockouts in New York State amateur history.”

SB: What drove you to make the decision to turn pro at 19 years of age?

CS: “I tried to make the 2004 Olympic team but I didn’t make it. As you know, Andre Dirrell and Andre Ward are good friends so what happened was they were both at 165 when I was dominating the light heavyweight class at the time.

“Andre Ward moved up in weight and was an excellent boxer. These guys have the amateur style of boxing, like the Olympic style of boxing; they don’t have the real good pro style of boxing. What you had was Dirrell stayed at 165 and Andre Ward moved up, I fought him and I didn’t make the team because he beat me.

“After that I didn’t want to box no more so next thing to do was turn pro. I saw my partner in crime Jaidon Codrington, he turned pro and he gave me the motivation and the potential to make me decide to turn pro.”

SB: What would you like to accomplish this year and overall in your career?

CS: “I have short term goals and long term goals. My short term goals right now is to demolish Andre Dirrell on June 16 after that whoever else wants to come my way just to run them over and become undisputed super middleweight champion. My future goal is be in the Boxing Hall of Fame as one of the greatest super middleweight that ever lived.”

SB: I really appreciate your time and I wish you the best of luck in your upcoming fight and in your career.

CS: “Thank you sir.”