SANTA MONICA, California — Hassan N’Dam put himself back in the championship mix with a thorough boxing exhibition last night against Curtis Stevens to earn #1 contender status for the IBF middlweight title.
The big question mark going into this fight was whether N’Dam, who’s famous for going down six times in an brave effort against Peter Quillin in 2012, could withstand Stevens’ power for 12 rounds.
Turns out he didn’t have to. Stevens was so hapless on offense that N’Dam was able to dominate with a solid jab and movement, which rendered Steven’s left hook defanged for most of the fight.
FOOL’S GOLD AND DAMNING PROOF: In the opening minute, it appeared we might be in for a short night when N’Dam was badly wobbled with a series of hooks. N’Dam immediately held, and later went down on two questionable slips that a more excitable ref might have ruled as knockdowns. From that point, Stevens would spend the rest of the fight in vain trying to land counter left hooks and telegraphed rights. With height and reach disadvantages, Stevens was swinging at air while N’Dam racked up points with his jabs and straight rights.
What made this even more egregious for Stevens was that N’Dam was able to pull this off in a ring that was 18 x18, the smallest allowed in the state of California.
THE BOXER PLAYS THE PUNCHER: Ironically, Stevens found his best chance for success when N’Dam dropped him in the eighth. The knockdown came off a sweet jab-straight right that caught Stevens coming in. Buzzed, Stevens had to retreat to the ropes while N’Dam teed off. Since N’Dam was wild with his shots and not a puncher, Stevens recovered and briefly hurt N’Dam by round’s end with a left hook.
Unfortunately for Stevens, that momentum evaporated in the very next round with N’Dam getting back to boxing. Stevens could do nothing but follow him around with no semblance of cutting off the ring.
FINAL THREE-MINUTE DRAMA: As Stevens did in April, he rallied big in the final round in hopes of a stoppage. N’Dam got careless for a spell on the ropes, but held when the firefight got too intense. There would be no miraculous comeback, and now N’Dam is poised to fight the winner of next week’s IBF title fight between champion Sam Soliman and (undeserved) challenger Jermain Taylor.
THE FUTURE FOR STEVENS: The fight made one thing apparent — Curtis Stevens is too one-dimensional to compete with elite fighters. For that thunderous left hook (“the eraser”) to be effective, Stevens needs stationary and defensively challenged opponents. You rarely get fighters like that at the championship level.
However, that doesn’t mean Stevens should hang it up. With the right opponents, his style can be a real attraction on undercards and even the main attraction on smaller cards.
As for N’Dam, his style and youth make him an easy favorite over both Soliman and Taylor.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 