Curtis Stevens: How The F*** Did Taylor Get Title Shot?
By Keith Idec
When asked who he thought would win the Sam Soliman-Jermain Taylor middleweight title fight, contender Curtis Stevens made it clear he’s still trying to figure how that IBF middleweight title fight was even scheduled.
“Jermain Taylor, I don’t even know how he came into the picture – Al Haymon and his bullsh*t,” Stevens told BoxingScene.com. “This sh*t has got to be stopped. I don’t know where the f** he came from. I heard Jermain Taylor-Sam Soliman, and I was like, ‘What the f**? Who the f***? How much money did they put up for this bullsh*t? They just came in and … what the f***?’ I said, ‘This has got to be stopped. Hell, no.’ I said, ‘How the hell did he not have to fight in a title eliminator? I’m in an eliminator and he’s fighting for the title.’ I said, ‘Nah, there’s some bullsh*t going on here.’ ”
The influential, mysterious Haymon advises Taylor, the former undisputed middleweight champion who hasn’t beaten a top-10 middleweight since successfully defending his 160-pound titles against Cory Spinks in May 2007. The 36-year-old Taylor (32-4-1, 20 KOs) will challenge the 40-year-old Soliman (44-11, 18 KOs, 1 NC) for the Australian champion’s IBF middleweight title Oct. 8 in Biloxi, Miss. Stevens (27-4, 20 KOs) is scheduled to face France’s Hassan N’Dam (30-1, 18 KOs) on Oct. 1 in Santa Monica, Calif., in an IBF elimination match that’ll determine the Springfield, N.J.-based sanctioning organization’s mandatory challenger for the Soliman-Taylor winner.
ESPN2 will televise the Soliman-Taylor and Stevens-N’dam matches.