James Kirkland vs. Gabriel Rosado added to Hopkins-Kovalev card on November 8th

kirkland334By Dan Ambrose: James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) will be fighting Gabriel Rosado (21-8, 13 KOs) in what will likely be the chief support on the Bernard Hopkins vs. Sergey Kovalev card on November 8th at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Kirkland, 30, was recently being considered for a fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. The fact that Canelo didn’t pick Kirkland could have been for a variety of reasons, starting with the danger that he’d bring.

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Canelo’s options for December: Andrade, Kirkland and Clottey

canelo6767By D.A: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1 31 KOs) has revealed his other 2 options for December other than James Kirkland, according to Univision Deportes and Vanguardia.mx. The other two are WBO 154 champion Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade (21-0 14 KOs) and Joshua Clottey (38-4-0-1 22 KOs).

There was rumors of Andrade squaring off against Clottey next but there hasn’t been any confirmation nor any other signs pointing to that fight getting made.

Andrade a former US Olympian is in his physical prime and is coming off a brutal stoppage win over England’s Brian Rose. Clottey is coming off a win over Australian Anthony Mundine. I’m sure fans would definitely be more interested in Canelo fighting Andrade rather than Clottey simply because Andrade seems like he’d pose more of a threat than an aging Clottey.

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Kirkland’s manager talks Canelo or Cotto fight in November or December

kirkland334By Dan Ambrose: Michael Miller, the co-manager for popular but seldom active James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KO’s), is reportedly up for the idea of Kirkland facing Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KO’s) or WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto this year.

Either of those guys are fights that he wants to set up for the 30-year-old Kirkland. Canelo is the one that they really one. No doubt they smell blood in the water after seeing Canelo struggle to a controversial win over Erislandy Lara, lose to Floyd Mayweather Jr, and beat Austin Trout by a far from impressive decision.

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Is Kirkland vs. Canelo a toss up?

canelo45By Bob Smith: Obviously, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) is a very skilled and talented boxer who has had an impressive string of wins, and just barely did enough to outpoint Trout and Lara. His only loss is to Floyd Mayweather Jr, but really who can fault him for that, and after all, he is still learning and is only 24 years old.

Canelo is also a naturally big junior middleweight, who rehydrates to the mid-160s or even the low 170s on fight night, and has not only tremendous power, very skillful combinations, and in addition a decent jab and good inside game. Kirkland, by contract, is a typical brawler, who goes non-stop in attack mode after round 1, and is relatively easy to hit. So how could a fight between Canelo and Kirkland be a toss up? Should a contest between them not be a clear Canelo victory?

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Canelo to return in November, likely against Kirkland

canelo777By DA: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) has been in talks with his promoter Oscar De la Hoya and hinted Alvarez will return in November against an opponent still to be determined. Chepo Reynoso the manager of Canelo Alvarez also stated after the Lara fight his team is interested in James Kirkland next.

The reported venue could be in San Antonio at the Alamadome where its capacity is 40,000 seats. Due to the cheap tickets and huge fan base Alvarez and Kirkland would pull it’s not a surprise the fight would take place in Texas, because Alvarez has a large Hispanic following there and James Kirkland is from Texas himself.

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Canelo vs. Kirkland possible for San Antonio

kirkland22By Allan Fox: The reported target date for Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s next fight is November in San Antonio, Texas. There isn’t an opponent yet, but #5 IBF, #5 WBO, #11 WBC James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) is high on the list for the possible opponent to face the 23-year-old Canelo.

A fight against WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto will need to wait until next year in May in order to take advantage of the huge Mexican holiday that month.

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De La Hoya wants to match Canelo with Kirkland and Cotto after Lara fight

canelo78By Dan Ambrose: Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya is already planning out former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s next two fights and working on the basis that he beats Erislandy Lara (19-1-2, 12 KO’s) this Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

De La Hoya told ESPN that he wants the soon to be 24-year-old Canelo to fight #5 IBF, #5 WBO, #11 WBC James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) and then WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32 KO’s) next year, possibly on Cinco de Mayo on May 2nd.

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Kirkland destroys Tapia and reignites his career

kirkland53By Chris Williams: James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KO’s) dealt Top Rank a crushing blow on Saturday night in stopping their fighter #10 IBF Glen Tapia (20-1, 12 KO’s) in the 6th round at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Kirkland gave Tapia a terrible beating in this fight. Tapia was no match for Kirkland’s high volume punch onslaught, and he couldn’t deal with his nonstop pressure.

Kirkland, who is promoted by SMS Promotions, came into the card as the opponent for Tapia. Kirkland hadn’t fought in close to 2 years, and it looks like they were counting on the rust being enough for him to lose the fight to their young would be star.

However, Kirkland showed that even in his rusty state, he was still far too good for the likes of Tapia. Kirkland went after Tapia early, taking some big shots in the 1st round in chasing him around the ring.

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Exclusive Coverage and Undercard Results: Rigondeaux vs. Agbeko

rigon13By Sevak Sarkisian-Ringside: Matt Korobov improves to (22-0 -13Ko’s) via TKO 28 seconds going into the 9th round against Derek Edwards who drops to (26-3-13Ko’s).

Mathew Macklin v Lamar Russ

Macklin improves to (30-5-20Ko’s) while Russ drops to (14-1-7Ko’s). Russ would have good moments when he didn’t stay in one spot and used movement. Macklin landed the harder shots throughout the fight and displayed a nice hard jab to help close the distance. However, Russ proved that Macklin can be out boxed by a good enough boxer. Russ was able to do it for a few rounds throughout the fight by using his jab to maintain distance and lateral movement. It was an entertaining contest and I wouldn’t mind seeing ether fighter again.

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Kirkland in risky fight against Tapia on Saturday

kirkland4534By Eric Thomas: Junior middleweight James Kirkland (31-1, 27 KO’s) will be fighting this Saturday night in a very risky fight for him against the unbeaten Glen Tapia (20-0, 12 KO’s) in a 10 round fight on HBO at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Kirkland hasn’t fought in a year a half and he’s taking a big risk in getting back in the ring without a tune-up to fight someone as good as the 23-year-old Tapia. A loss for Kirkland in this fight will be a huge blow to his career because he’s hoping to get himself ranked high in the 154 lb. division to get a world title shot. Getting beaten by Tapia would temporarily derail those plans.

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