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He's the future of the middleweights. Go to youtube and watch this young Joe Louis / Mike tyson hybrid fighter. He BRINGS THE pain to your ass ,quick fast and in a hurry.
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Didnt know he was a middleweight, but carry on. -
I agree. James Kirkland is exactly the type of fighter boxing needs right now. He's exciting as ****.
James “Mandingo” Kirkland: The Next Superstar in Boxing
The Rebirth of an American Born Killer
He’s the type of fighter that the American public has been craving for quite some time now. I know that some of you will state that America already has a killer in the form Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik. I would tend to agree to a certain extent but not to another.
Pavlik is a methodical fighter that is extremely heavy handed which leads to an eventual beat down of his opponents. “The Ghost” utilizes a pin-point accurate jab thrown from the high guard while following up with his sledge-hammer straight right hand directly into the mouth of his opponent. It eventually wears down the poor souls and ends up leaving them in a heap of blood and mucus. On the other hand, “Mandingo” is an explosive performer based on strength, speed, and just plain viciousness. While both Pavlik and Kirkland are quite vicious in their own mannerisms, the Texas based fighter brings a “don’t blink”-type of game whenever he enters the ring.
Many have likened him to a smaller, southpaw version of a former heavyweight champion that went by the nickname of "Iron".
Tomorrow night, the freakishly strong southpaw will be squaring off against Ricardo “El Guero” Cortes in a fight that many expect him to win rather handily. Cortes is coming off a first round loss to the highly touted Alfredo Angulo in February of this year. With the perception that Cortes’ whiskers are less than sturdy coupled with the power punching whirlwind style of Kirkland, it wouldn’t surprise most if yet another first round stoppage was in the makings.
With “Mandingo” having fought on both Showtime and HBO in the past, many view his main event status on ESPN as having taken a step back… at least financially. While this might be the case as far as his purse goes, the exposure that James will garner from this showcase bout is far greater than most contenders of his status would be able to attain anywhere else.
Let me think… undercard on a HBO Pay-Per-View were nobody’s watching you live or on television or a main event headliner which is guaranteed to be viewed by somewhere in the region of 600,000 households?
It’s part of the building up process and as long as this Austin-based animal continues to fight on television, he will continue building up his fan base properly which will lead to a surge in his popularity. All an exciting fighter needs is the correct exposure for the public to realize that this guy makes for can’t miss type of events.
Based on the current status of the 154 pound division, I believe that Kirkland should and could be in line for a title shot somewhere in the very near future.
With veteran names such as Verno Phillips, Vernon Forrest, Sergio Mora, and Daniel Santos in the mix, it makes for some great food for the young tyrant. I’m not a boxing manager nor is it something that I aspire to be but if it were up to me, I’d be looking to snatch a belt very soon potentially against the likes of Verno Phillips. The old veteran is still alive and kicking but is what I would consider a perfect opponent for the “Mandingo Warrior”.
With names like Margarito, Paul Williams, Kelly Pavlik, and John Duddy hovering around the junior middleweight division, the possibilities are endless in terms of stylistic dream match-ups.
Great things are happening this weekend in Texas.
James Kirkland is fighting in his own hometown of Austin as a headliner for ESPN Friday Night Fights.
Rocky Juarez and Juan Diaz are fighting in their hometowns of Houston as a great double-header on HBO Boxing After Dark.
It’s the way boxing should be on a more regular basis.
Consistency is the key my friends…Comment
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He'll move up soon. There aren't to many exciting fights out there in JR Middle besides Angulo. Only issue may be his height, but we'll see.Comment
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he's a badass.Comment
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mora schools him.....hehe....nah not really, but im sure kirkland respects him...Comment
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This Kirkland guy is nothing special...He has power, but he has no defence and he gets hit way too much...He got dropped and hurt bad by some bum in his last fight.
Kirkland is the new Jeff Lacy
The best Middleweight prospect is Gennady Golovkin, he is the Real future of the middleweight division.Comment
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Why do you need to put down Pavlik to big up Kirk?Comment
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