By Dan Ambrose: Former junior middleweight contender James Kirkland (27-1, 24 KO’s) tasted defeat for the first time in his career on Saturday night losing to 35-year-old former WBA junior middleweight interim champion Nobuhiro Ishida (23-6-2, 8 KO’s) by a 1st round technical knockout at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. All total, Kirkland hit the canvas three separate times in the round first and only round of the fight. Kirkland seemed to never recover from a short left hand from Ishida early in the round.
Kirkland left himself open for the shot by attacking all out like he was trying to score a quick knockout. Kirkland then found himself in the uncomfortable position of being attacked rather than being the one that was doing the attacking. Ishida had no problems handling the occasional shot that Kirkland would land. Ishida didn’t care whether he got hit or not. He was so much faster than the painfully slow that he was literally hitting Kirkland three to four times for every shot Kirkland was landing.
Ishida quickly cornered Kirkland and put him down with another left hand. Kirkland got up and when the action resumed he was backed up and put down by a chopping right hand from Ishida. Referee Joe Cortez then stepped in and halted the slaughter much to Kirkland’s disappointment. He wanted the fight to continue, but he should be thanking Cortez for doing him a big favor and stopping the fight because Ishida would have seriously hurt Kirkland if the fight had continued.
Kirkland isn’t the same fighter he was before going to prison in 2009. He’s clearly heavier with more fat on his frame than he carried two years ago. He’s also slower and looks less youthful. I don’t think he’s going to do well from this point forward. I think the guy missed his time and will continue to have problems going forward. He’s bigger now and without the hand speed or the defense to protect him from getting hit so much, he’s going to continue to have problems. Kirkland could fight Ishida a 100 times and I see Kirkland getting knocked out in the first couple of rounds every time. Ishida is too fast for him and doesn’t have respect for Kirkland’s power. Kirkland needs to lose weight and try and start from the bottom at junior middleweight. I can’t see him succeeding. He’s too slow and too easy to hit.
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