Yeah we had few discussions boasting about "levels" before the N'Dam Stevens fight, which we were proven very wrong, but I think it has more to do with Stevens shortcomings when fighting defensive fighters, and also Hassan won't have such an advantage in the height department against David who's only 1 inch shorter as opposed to Curtis being about 5. David will hurt him eventually and he's a pretty good finisher unlike Quillin.
Yeah - also see my previous edit. You responded quick! Honestly my rating of NDam was largely from the Quillin fight, and the fact he was caught a lot by left hooks. I also did not expect Stevens to become as hesitant as he did, which was an error on my part - I didn't really think it through , given NDams history with the canvas but should have. Still, if NDam had the same performance and punch resistance on display I still think Stevens would have won. But he performed much better.(ie: I still don't really rate Quillin, other than having a sharp left hook)
Yeah I was too fast to jump without thorough analysis, but I've been thinking this one out for a few days since it was first rumored, I think with Lemieux's pitbull like pressure he'll get to a land with more frequency than the slow footed Stevens and David also has one hell of a left hook.
These are two of my favourite middleweights. I like both these guys a lot. My big regret is that they are facing each other and therefore one has to lose. Should be a good fight. Lemieux can ko HNN and HNN can outbox Lemieux, but who will win out? ...so it's a fascinating match-up.