Ringside at Turning Stone: David Lemieux Capsizes Curtis Stevens

VERONA, NY — In a shootout between two big punchers, David Lemieux scored an impressive one punch highlight reel knockout of Curtis Stevens in the third round of their scheduled twelve round middleweight fight in Verona, NY on Saturday night. As Stevens was throwing a left hook, Lemieux caught him with a debilitating left hook of his own that landed flush on the jaw of Stevens and had him out before he hit the canvas.

Medical personnel immediately attended to Stevens and placed him on a stretcher to be transported to a local hospital for observation. Stevens was conscious when being transported and his promoter, Kathy Duva, gave the crowd a thumbs up as he was being removed from the arena.

There was no feeling out process between Lemieux (37-3, 33 KOs) and Stevens (29-6, 21 KOs). The two were exchanging big punches within moments of the opening bell. Lemieux seemed to get Stevens attention about half way through the first with a hard right hand. But Stevens would find a home for some powerful rights of his own as the first round progressed. At the end of the round, a left hook by Lemieux had Stevens clearly hurt just before the bell sounded.

Lemieux came out fast to start the second to see if Stevens was still hurt. Lemieux was loading up on everything he threw as Stevens covered up. Eventually, Stevens started to counter some between the hard punches of Lemieux and had some success. Stevens also started working the left hook to Lemieux’s midsection and seemed to be slowing up Lemieux with that body work as the round moved forward.

Stevens started strong in the third working behind the jab. He would find a home for some powerful straight right hands that seemed to get the attention of Lemieux. However, just when Stevens seemed to be turning the tide, a left hook that he never saw coming put a swift and conclusive end to the fight.

The win puts Lemieux in line for bigger fights down the line. He called out both Gennady Golovkin and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in the ring following the fight with Stevens. Though a rematch with Golovkin seems unlikely, there is at least a decent chance that a fight with Canelo may to come fruition at some point soon.

Yuriorkis Gamboa-Rene Alvarado

In the co-feature bout, Yuriorkis Gamboa scored a listless ten round unanimous decision against veteran journeyman Rene Alvarado in a lightweight contest. It was a bout that was void of action and had the crowd sounding their displeasure throughout.

This was Gamboa’s (26-1, 17 KOs) first fight under his new promotional contract with Golden Boy and was supposed to be a mere showcase to lead him to bigger fights down the line. However, Alvarado (24-8, 16 KOs) proved to be more a puzzle than anticipated for Gamboa. Alvarado refused to lead and with both fighters almost strictly looking to counter, little action was produced.

Gamboa controlled the little action there was in the first six rounds of the fight by simply moving his hands more than Alvarado and landing the catchier punches. Alvarado seemed to pick up a little momentum in the seventh when he briefly stunned Gamboa with a right hand.

Alvarado could not seize on the momentum from the seventh and was hurt himself by Gamboa in the ninth. In the tenth, Alvarado landed a glancing left to the head of Gamboa who was off balance and fell to the canvas. To Gamboa’s dismay, referee Benjy Esteves ruled it a knockdown. However, this would prove to be a moot point as Gamboa was already well ahead on all three judges cards.

Undercard Bouts

In a battle of undefeated super lightweight prospects, Yves Ulysse would score a TKO victory against Zachary Ochoa after Ochoa’s corner stopped the bout following round seven.

Ulysse (13-0, 9 KOs) was dominant throughout the contest. He routinely found a home for his power shots against an ever retreating Ochoa (16-1, 7 KOs) whose punches did not carry near the steam of Ulysse. In the seventh, Ulysse hurt Ochoa with a straight right hand and followed that up with a barrage of power shots that were frequently snapping the head back of Ochoa. Though he showed guts, Ochoa took a massive beating that round and his corner made the correct call in not letting him out for the eighth.

Diego De La Hoya (17-0, 9 KOs) scored a lopsided unanimous decision against Roberto Pucheta (10-10-1, 6 KOs) in a super bantamweight bout. De La Hoya dropped Pucheta in the first and went on to easily control every round in winning by margins of 80-71 on all three cards.

D’Mitrius Ballard (16-0, 12 KOs) knocked out veteran Zoltan Sera (26-11, 17 KOs) with a right hand to the temple in the fourth round of their light heavyweight contest in a bout that Ballard was in total control throughout.

Alex Rincon made a successful professional debut when he stopped Shaun Lee Henson (2-4, 2 KOs) in the second round with a left hook to the body in a super welterweight bout.

Damon Allen (11-0-1, 5 KOs) stopped Adam Mate (24-11, 17 KOs) in the second round of their lightweight contest. Allen put Mate on the canvas three times that round. Referee Benjy Esteves waived the contest off after the third knockdown.

In the opening bout, Todd Unthank-May (10-0-1, 4 KOs) fought to a split draw with Quinton Rankin (12-3-1, 9 KOs) in a competitive and entertaining light heavyweight contest.

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