James Kirkland Focused on a Hard Run at The Title

By Chris LaBate

After a two year layoff due to legal problems, junior middleweight James Kirkland (27-0, 24 KOs) is taking his third fight in 35 days on April 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Kirkland will appear on the Erik Morales-Marcos Maidana pay-per-view undercard. Kirkland's goal is to gain an number one ranking by the end of the year. He wants to be in position to fight for a title by late 2011 or early 2012.

"I want to fight every day," Kirkland said. "I feel that at the end of 2011 I'll be ranked number one in the world or be about to fight for a world title or already have a world title. My time will come and I will be champion. I've set aside foolish things. Now it's time to grow. Nothing can take me off what I'm going to do. I'm not going to let anything take me from my dream.

Kirkland has been fighting at 161-pounds for his last two bouts. He wants to be at 158-pounds on April 9, and then slim down to his target weight of 154-pounds. Kirkland can feel the power in his punches. He continues to work hard to fully regain his speed and other attributes that were gummed down during the layoff.

"I'm just getting myself the work, focusing on getting the work in, seeing the punches and be able to know what's coming," Kirkland said. "When I was away I was training and sparring. I made sure I had some running in and made sure I could lose weight fast to jump into the ring as soon as possible. I feel super strong, but the speed is not all the way back yet."