Less than three months after middleweight Curtis “Showtime” Stevens (26-4-0, 19 KOs) knocked out Patrick Majewski in the first round at Resorts International Casino and Hotel, he will take on the undefeated Tureano Johnson (14-0-0, 10 KOs) at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, PA on Friday, April 4th. The Stevens-Johnson ten round fight will be the co-feature on the NBCSN Fight Night card that features the heavyweight showdown between Steve “USS” Cunningham (26-6-0, 12 KOs) and Amir “Hardcore” Mansour (20-0-0, 15 KOs).
Stevens, who just celebrated his 29th birthday on March 10th, vowed to stay busy this year, “This is my life and my job. I like to fight and I don’t want to have a break too long. I could get a little bit too relaxed. Hopefully I can go six times this year.” “Showtime” fought four times in 2013 with a 3-1 record with two knockouts. And after his first round knockout of Majewski on January 24th he is ready for Johnson, “I am back to the old Curtis. It looks like he likes to fight. He likes to stay in the paint, in the dog house and get it on. He looks like a more aggressive Derrick Findley so this fight I might just stay toe-to-toe.”
Hall of Fame matchmaker, J Russell Peltz said this about the match-up: “This fight features Curtis Stevens, one of the most exciting middleweights in the division. It is going to be an explosive fight!” Main Events’ CEO Kathy Duva said, “We love Curtis. NBC loves Curtis. Everyone is thrilled that he’ll be back on Fight Night so quickly. Johnson fought on the undercard of one of our Fight Night cards (Adamek vs Chambers at the Prudential Center on June 16, 2012) and I was impressed by what I saw. This should be a good one.”
Johnson, 30, originally from Nassau, Bahamas, defeated Willie Fortune via unanimous decision in his last fight at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, CA on February 22, 2013. Tureano has only had three fights go the distance in his career (all unanimous decision wins) and has a 71% knockout-to-win percentage. However, Stevens is not intimidated, he said, “He has a lot of knockouts but when you check the guys that he has knocked out its guys with records that are like 6-30. That is what he is supposed to do. If he wasn’t knocking them out I believe that would be a problem.”
This will be Johnson’s first ten round fight. This will also be Johnson’s first fight as a co-feature on a national broadcast. He said, “I would like to thank Main Events and my promoter, Gary Shaw, for making this fight possible. On April 4th, the world will be introduced to Tureano Johnson. This has been a long, hard road for me filled with blood, sweat and ruthless determination. I have been begging for this opportunity to pit my skills against the so-called best in my division. However, it is easier said than done in this world of boxing. No one would fight me until now. I respect Curtis Stevens. He is a strong, hard-punching fighter who has been in with the best. But he can’t and won’t beat me. To all the fans, don’t miss this fight on NBCSN. I’m sure it is going to be a throw-back fight. It has been said that I’m not the most “technical” fighter out there. Well it’s true. I like to mix it up, throw hard punches, and get a little barbaric in the ring. I’m coming to fight, win impressive, and after April 4th, I know I will get the fights I deserve.”
“Showtime” is training for this fight in his hometown of Brooklyn, NY. He said, “I like training in Brooklyn because I am more comfortable. It is home to me; my mind is clearer when I am around positive energy. I can’t be too secluded and bored. I need to be around family and friends. So I can just go about my day as regular as possible. It is best to just keep home and have fun.”
