By Dan Ambrose: Former junior middleweight contender James Kirkland (25-0, 22 KO’s) is looking to get back in action on March 5th on the undercard of the fight between Saul Alvarez and Matthew Hatton. Kirkland, 26, was recently released from a Texas prison where he had been held for a weapons violation from April 2009 until recently.
Kirkland is reportedly below 160 lbs. after having lost most of the weight he put on during his incarceration. His fight on the Alvarez-Hatton fight, it he does make it on the card, won’t be televised unfortunately. Kirkland will remain on probation for a while and will need to keep out of trouble to avoid going back to prison.
If Kirkland can regain the form he had before going to prison in 2009, he could immediately find himself in the thick of things in the junior middleweight division. 154 is probably where Kirkland will be best, as he’s not tall at 5’9”, and might struggle against some of the big middleweights like Kelly Pavlik. Kirkland, a pressure fighter, has two very impressive wins over Bryan Vera and Joel Julio shortly before going back to prison.
At the time, it looked like it was only a matter of time before Kirkland fought and won a title. If Kirkland can fight at the same level he was at before, it still won’t guarantee him a big money fight in the future because the junior middleweight division is totally devoid of stars with the exception of WBA title holder Miguel Cotto, and the chances of Kirkland getting a fight against Cotto are pretty slim.
Cotto’s promoter Bob Arum will likely not be interested in letting Cotto face a puncher like Kirkland. And by the same token, Arum will likely keep Antonio Margarito and Manny Pacquiao far away from Kirkland.
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