Curtis Stevens patiently waits for major middleweight bout

Curtis Stevens didn’t complain when a fight with David Lemieux fell apart.

Stevens envisioned a competitive fight between two hard-hitting middleweight contenders, with the winner getting an opportunity against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

The New Yorker had to settle for a bout with James de la Rosa (23-4, 13 knockouts) on the Sergey Kovalev-Andre Ward undercard Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.

“It’s not the fight I wanted, but there’s no point in complaining,” Stevens said. “I used to get mad about what fights I didn’t get and what other people got. I’m over that. I need to focus on my career and take care of business on Saturday.”

It’s one of many changes Stevens (28-5, 21 KOs) has made in his 12-year professional career.

Stevens is best remembered for his knockout loss to middleweight kingpin Gennady Golovkin in 2013. Stevens’ dazed face after being dropped by Golovkin in the second round is often viewed as the moment the fighter from Kazakhstan became a star.

The 31-year-old Stevens also took a hit outside the ring during a messy custody battle for his oldest son. Stevens is finally in a good place and has found new life in the ring with trainer John David Jackson, who also coaches Kovalev.

“Mentally I’m focused now and before had a lot of stuff going on in the past two or three years,” Stevens said. “I’ve learned to be patient. I had to make changes. I know good things will eventually come for me.”

Stevens gets to spend time with his 5-year-old son, Amor, and his second son, King, who was born a month ago.

“Having a child born during a training camp isn’t easy, but you have to roll with the punches,” Stevens said. “Life is good. Everything with my family has been great.”

Stevens is still hoping to meet Lemieux in the near future, but he knows he needs a win Saturday for that to happen. But Stevens doesn’t necessarily want a knockout that might scare off some of his opponents.

“People don’t want to fight me because of my power,” Stevens said. “Now that I’m with John David Jackson, they’re shaking in their knee boots.”

Stevens has proven that he’s willing to fight the best in the 160-pound division after facing Golovkin. Stevens said fighters such as WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders like to talk to get attention, but always have an excuse when it’s time to sign the contracts.

“Guys like (Saunders) want the world to notice them, but when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, they do nothing because they’re satisfied with the attention,” Stevens said.

The middleweight fight the boxing world wants to see is Alvarez against Golovkin. The camps have yet to reach a contract mainly because of the difference in money. Stevens said Alvarez should get double the money since he’s the superstar, and Golovkin needs to beat the Mexican fighter to command the type of money he wants.

Stevens would like to see that matchup happen as a boxing fan, but he would rather face Alvarez.

“Let me get in there with Canelo and give him some work,” Stevens said. “Maybe I can beat him and become a superstar like him.”

Stevens doesn’t have the perfect boxing record, but has proven he’s willing to trade punches with the best.

Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0492. Follow @gmanzano24 on Twitter.