By Lem Satterfield
As reported earlier by BoxingScene.com, junior middleweight contender James Kirkland, imprisoned since April 2009 after pleading guilty to a charge of gun possession by a convicted felon, was released from Bastrop Federal Prison, Bastrop, Tex., on Thursday morning, will spend the remaining months of his sentence in an Austin, Tex., halfway house.
While the target date for his comeback was November 6 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer says Kirkland's return may get pushed to a date in December. Schaefer wants to ensure that Kirkland has enough time to properly train for his comeback fight.
"James Kirkland is released, so we're happy to have one of the best fighters, pound-for-pound, and one of the most exciting fighters in the world back in the sport. But we're not sure that November 6 is going to be the date that he will be fighting. We might be moving that back to December because the fact is that he was released a little bit later than we thought," said Schaefer.
"We want to make sure that he has enough time to train properly and to be prepared, so there really is no need to rush. So rather than November, it might be December that you see him back in the ring."
Lem Satterfield is the news editor for BoxingScene.com and the boxing editor for AOL FanHouse. To read more from Lem Satterfield, go to AOL FanHouse by Clicking Here.
