Humbled Kirkland on the rebound

Humbled Kirkland on the rebound

Mark E. Ortega

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

March 23, 2011

The last time Austin, Texas' James Kirkland [27-0, 24 KOs] found himself in the midst of a meaningful bout against an able bodied opponent, this writer was ringside.

In a headlining bout as part of HBO's Boxing After Dark in San Jose, California, James Kirkland dismantled a game Joel Julio, ultimately finishing the Colombian in six rounds. It was the kind of performance that, if Kirkland was somehow not on your radar, after that March 2009 performance he most certainly had to be.

Kirkland promoter Golden Boy Promotions was ready to make Kirkland their next star as he portrayed many of the in-ring characteristics of a 154-pound Mike Tyson. You had a guy that just loved to fight more than anything, and even further, he was more than good at it. In addition, the storyline surrounding Kirkland's troubled past and his reformation under former female pound-for-pound fighter Ann Wolfe gained national prominence. The story was even given a lengthy look on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

Then came the April incident in which Kirkland was caught with an unlicensed firearm, which was prohibited due to Kirkland's felony record from a 2003 armed robbery conviction. Kirkland was sentenced in July to two years in prison, a sentence that could have been much worse had Kirkland promoter Oscar De La Hoya not testified on his behalf.

Since being released from prison this past September, Kirkland has surrounded himself with a new group of people that include well-known trainer Kenny Adams as well as new surroundings in Las Vegas. He seems humbled by his experience and intent on not making similar mistakes down the road.

With how close Kirkland was to the big six and maybe seven figure paydays, how could he not be?

“I've set aside foolish things and now its time to go,” said Kirkland in a conference call earlier this week. “Nothing can take me off what I'm going to do. I'm not going to let anything take me from my dream, inspire me to do the wrong thing again. I just have to wait my time. I fell off doing something stupid.”

Kirkland was on the verge of competing for a world title at junior middleweight at the time of his mishap. He returned to the ring for the first time two days shy of two years, knocking out unheralded Ahsandi Gibbs in thirty four seconds. Two weeks later on Telefutura's Solo Boxeo he stopped Jhon Berrio in two sloppy rounds as Kirkland searches for his timing and precision that made him such a dangerous killer.

“I wish I could fight everyday,” said Kirkland candidly.

April 9^th will mark the third time Kirkland gets in the ring in just over a month, which is exactly what Golden Boy should be doing in an effort to restore him to where he was prior to his slip up. For a guy who loves to fight, the Austin, Texas native is getting exactly what he wants, a superbly active schedule that is serving Kirkland by forcing him to be in the gym at all times and out of trouble, similar to the way an active schedule forced a young Riddick Bowe to keep his weight down.

No opponent has yet been set for Kirkland, who will likely be featured in the off-television portion of the Erik Morales-Marcos Maidana pay-per-view card that he is slated to appear on. Nobody seems in a rush to get him back to legitimacy, and that is the correct move. Though when asked where Kirkland expects to be by the end of 2011, he didn't beat around the bush.

“I really feel like by the end of 2011 I will be ranked number one in the world or about to fight for a world title if not already have a world title,” Kirkland told the media on the conference call.

While that may be a tad farfetched, if Golden Boy keeps him in the ring until they get him ranked and into a fight with someone that poses a danger to him, nothing is impossible. There are lots of intriguing fights for James down the line if he stays around junior middleweight and Golden Boy would be smart not to waste them by putting him in tough too soon.

Whatever the scenario may be, Kirkland's comeback is one that has piqued the interest of every major boxing outlet. His aggressive style and pure love of the game has drawn quite a following amongst the sport's biggest die hards.

One thing is for certain, the James Kirkland Express will be a bandwagon worth riding until the wheels come off, make no mistake about it. Let's just hope that those wheels don't come off from something outside the squared circle that could have been prevented and rather just because he wanted to fight the best around.