By Ryan Maquiñana & Rick Reeno

Earlier on Tuesday, BoxingScene.com reported that a federal court ruled to void James Kirkland’s contract extension with Golden Boy Promotions.  Kirkland’s co-manager, Cameron Dunkin, commented on the matter.

“I think it’s really wrong with everything they did to help him get James out of jail,” Dunkin told BoxingScene.com.  “Golden Boy and Oscar [De La Hoya] treated him well.  In the end, that’s a decision that he’s going to have to live with.”

Dunkin shares managerial duties with attorney Mike Miller, and according to the veteran handler, the pair will seek to have Kirkland continue to honor his contractual agreement with them.

“Me and Mike, along with [trainers] Ann Wolfe and Pops [Billingsley] still have a valid contract with him,” Dunkin added.  “I’m waiting to hear from Mike Miller and we’ll go from there.”

Kirkland (31-1, 27 KOs), a native of Austin, Tex., has not fought since March of last year, when he won by controversial disqualification after the corner of opponent Carlos Molina prematurely entered the ring before the end of the 10th round.  Following Tuesday’s ruling, the 154-pounder’s contract with Golden Boy will expire on October 15.

Golden Boy's attorney, Jeffrey Spitz of Los Angeles based Lerman, Pointer & Spitz, explained the court's ruling to BoxingScene.com

While Judge Margaret M. Morrow [of the Central District of California] voided portions of paragraphs 5 and 7 of the Promoter Agreement between Kirkland and Golden Boy - she upheld the remainder of the contract and found it enforceable, which is why Kirkland is contractually tied until October. The portions of contract, in the above referenced paragraphs, were connected to extending the contract. Because of the regulations under California law [4 CAL. CODE REGS. § 220. and 4 CAL. CODE REGS. § 222], the judge deemed the language in those paragraphs as being illegal as they extended the promotional agreement beyond the state's permitted period of five years.

"The challenge was made by Kirkland in filing the case was to have the entire contract thrown out as illegal, void and unenforceable. And then he brought this motion in front of the judge and asked the judge to make that decision without hearing any evidence, but based on the pleadings that have been filed...the complaint, the answer, the counterclaim and the answer to the counterclaim. The judge reading the pleadings, and not considering evidence, came back with that order saying essentially the contract as a whole is enforceable, but the only part of it which is not enforceable are the portions which suggest that it can be extended beyond a duration of five years. The California rules limit the contract, according to this judge, to a five year period," Spitz said to BoxingScene.com.

In terms of the remaining claims being made by both parties, Kirkland and Golden Boy will head to trial on October 8th.

Ryan Maquiñana was the boxing producer for NBCOlympics.com during London 2012 and writes a weekly column for CSNBayArea.com.  He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Ratings Panel for Ring Magazine. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com , check out his blog at Norcalboxing.net, or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.