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James Kirkland in jail until end of week
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By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
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Junior middleweight James Kirkland is incarcerated again but should be released by the end of the week, co-manager Cameron Dunkin told ESPN.com on Wednesday.
Kirkland, 26, was released from a federal prison near his hometown of Austin, Texas, into a halfway house on Sept. 30 after serving 17 months for pleading guilty to gun possession by a convicted felon.
Kirkland (25-0, 22 KOs) had been living in an Austin halfway house and training for his comeback fight against Delray Raines, which is scheduled for Dec. 11 on the Amir Khan-Marcos Maidana undercard in Las Vegas.
"[Kirkland] was at the gym and ran down to get a custom mouthpiece from a dentist in town when the probation officer came by and he wasn't there," Dunkin said. "I guess that's a violation and the probation officer said they were going to have a hearing on this because you're not allowed to leave the gym at all when you're in training. You're supposed to be where you're supposed to be. He was gone for an hour or something, not a big deal, but he got punished."
Dunkin said the incident happened late last week and he was informed of it by co-manager Michael Miller.
"He's got to do a week at the county jail, so he should be out in a couple of days," Dunkin said. "He didn't lose his bed or his spot at the halfway house."
Dunkin said the December fight will go forward, assuming Kirkland is released when expected.
"Michael Miller told me everything is being dealt with and that James wasn't where he was supposed to be," Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, Kirkland's promoter, said. "You can't just take off, even if it's for getting a mouthpiece. You need to inform your probation officer that, 'Hey, I'm going to be gone for 15 minutes.' Miller said everything will be OK.
"The return of James Kirkland to the ring is a much-anticipated event for us, for fight fans and, of course, for James. So we are excited about having him back, but we don't want to do anything that will interfere with him dealing with what he has to deal with. If he can fight, great. As long as everything is being dealt with properly, great. We as his promoter are committed to James and are as excited as the fans to have him back. But let's not do anything ****** to jeopardize it. Let's get everything resolved. We don't want to put any unnecessary pressure on him or anyone."
Dan Rafael covers boxing for ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter.
* Comments
By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
Archive
Junior middleweight James Kirkland is incarcerated again but should be released by the end of the week, co-manager Cameron Dunkin told ESPN.com on Wednesday.
Kirkland, 26, was released from a federal prison near his hometown of Austin, Texas, into a halfway house on Sept. 30 after serving 17 months for pleading guilty to gun possession by a convicted felon.
Kirkland (25-0, 22 KOs) had been living in an Austin halfway house and training for his comeback fight against Delray Raines, which is scheduled for Dec. 11 on the Amir Khan-Marcos Maidana undercard in Las Vegas.
"[Kirkland] was at the gym and ran down to get a custom mouthpiece from a dentist in town when the probation officer came by and he wasn't there," Dunkin said. "I guess that's a violation and the probation officer said they were going to have a hearing on this because you're not allowed to leave the gym at all when you're in training. You're supposed to be where you're supposed to be. He was gone for an hour or something, not a big deal, but he got punished."
Dunkin said the incident happened late last week and he was informed of it by co-manager Michael Miller.
"He's got to do a week at the county jail, so he should be out in a couple of days," Dunkin said. "He didn't lose his bed or his spot at the halfway house."
Dunkin said the December fight will go forward, assuming Kirkland is released when expected.
"Michael Miller told me everything is being dealt with and that James wasn't where he was supposed to be," Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, Kirkland's promoter, said. "You can't just take off, even if it's for getting a mouthpiece. You need to inform your probation officer that, 'Hey, I'm going to be gone for 15 minutes.' Miller said everything will be OK.
"The return of James Kirkland to the ring is a much-anticipated event for us, for fight fans and, of course, for James. So we are excited about having him back, but we don't want to do anything that will interfere with him dealing with what he has to deal with. If he can fight, great. As long as everything is being dealt with properly, great. We as his promoter are committed to James and are as excited as the fans to have him back. But let's not do anything ****** to jeopardize it. Let's get everything resolved. We don't want to put any unnecessary pressure on him or anyone."
Dan Rafael covers boxing for ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter.
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