Instead, Kirkland went down three times and was stopped in just 1:52 in Las Vegas. By Jeff Aranow: James Kirkland will be making his long awaited comeback on August 24 in a six round fight against journeyman Colby Courter (13-14, 10 KOs) at the Erwin Center, in Austin, Texas. On March 5, 2011, Kirkland returned to the ring after an almost 2-year layoff to defeat Ahsandi Gibbs via first-round KO. He had a great little ShoBox war that November with Allen Conyers, where both fighters were down in a bout that ended at 2:56 of the opening round with Kirkland taking the win. He’s older. [10] The fight took place on May 9 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas with Kirkland losing by KO in 3rd round. James Kirkland’s career, with its ups and downs in and out of the spotlight, has been one of the most fascinating of the modern era. Neither Courter nor Phipps lasted past the second round. He was one of boxing's most prominent junior middleweight prospects in the late 2000s and early 2010s, until an 18-month prison stint set his career back significantly.
It might be that he gets rushed into a more notable fight, possibly even, being honest, as a sacrifice against someone like WBC middleweight titleholder Jermall Charlo, as PBC are not exactly deep at 160. In 2008 he scored a solid win over fellow Texan battler Brian Vera, and beat Joel Julio in 2009. James Derick Kirkland is an American professional boxer who held the regional WBO–NABO junior middleweight title in 2008. Those are the things that James Kirkland, at his best, brought to boxing. Instead, he parted ways with trainer Kenny Adams and reunited with Wolfe, getting back into the ring two and a half months later with a victory over Alexis Hloros. James Kirkland back in action Nov 9 Boxing returns to San Antonio’s Alamodome on November 9th with middleweight knockout artist James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland (33-2, 29 KOs) taking on the “New Orleans Nightmare” Jas Phipps (10-7, 5 KOs) in a six round main event. Nicknamed the "Mandingo Warrior", Kirkland is known for being a highly aggressive southpaw pressure fighter with formidable punching power, having scored 82% per cent of his victories via knockout.
“I watched Kirkland growing up and I have studied his mistakes.
“What my emotion was — to see my family hold their faces, to see my son cry, to see James like that, to see his mother upset like that, see everybody upset.
In his debut Kirkland defeated fellow debutant Maurice Chalmers with a third-round knockout. In the article, Kirkland was described as 'potentially, the most dominant offensive force in boxing since a prime Mike Tyson'.[9]. Ring observers believe that these legal troubles will negatively impact Kirkland's career.[14]. He was one of boxing's most prominent junior middleweight prospects in the late 2000s and early 2010s, until an 18-month prison stint set his career back significantly. [4] On March 7, 2009, Kirkland defeated Joel Julio on HBO's Boxing After Dark at the HP Pavilion in San Jose by TKO after Round 6. 2012, when Kirkland was clearly losing to Carlos Molina in a fight in Houston. Instead of going to the Olympics, Kirkland turned professional to provide for his family.[2]. Kirkland came back from his first-round knockout loss to score three knockdowns over Alexis Hloros en route to a second-round knockout.