James Kirkland's Ring Return Tentative For March 5th

By Rick Reeno

BoxingScene.com was advised by manager Cameron Dunkin that junior middleweight James Kirkland (25-0, 22KOs) is possibly going to return on March 5th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California in a non-televised bout on the Saul Alvarez-Matthew Hatton undercard. Kirkland is relocating from Texas to Las Vegas, Nevada. Dunkin tells BoxingScene that Kirkland is scheduled to arrive in the first week of February and plans to start camp with new trainer Kenny Adams.

"We're looking at March 5th. We're shooting for that date. James says he's in great shape and ready to go. He'll start training as soon as he gets here with Kenny Adams. If Kenny says he's ready to go, he'll fight on March 5th. Either way, he's coming back soon," Dunkin told BoxingScene.com.

The 26-year-old Kirkland was imprisoned in April 2009 after pleading guilty to a charge of gun possession by a convicted felon. He was released last September and spent the last few months in a halfway house before being released a few weeks ago. Kirkland has been away from the ring since last March.