Kirkland vs. Duran on June 24

By Boxing News - 06/18/2011 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Once promising junior middleweight James Kirkland (27-1, 24 KO’s) will try to get his career back on track on June 24th in a scheduled eight round bout against 38-year-old journeyman Saul Duran (37-18-2, 30 KO’s) at the Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas.

Duran has lost 10 out of his last 13 fights, giving Kirkland an excellent chance of winning this fight. Kirkland looked truly awful in his last bout, losing by a 1st round knockout to fringe junior middleweight contender Nobuhiro Ishida in April. Kirkland almost didn’t know what hit him, as Ishida came out fast and knocked Kirkland down almost immediately. Instead of getting up and taking it easy, Kirkland continued to press the attack on the much faster Ishida and found himself on the canvas two more times before referee Joe Cortez stopped the bout at 1:52 of the round.

Kirkland, who was fighting for only the third time after being released from a year long stint in an Austin, Texas prison for a weapons violation, looked flabby and slow. In hindsight, he probably shouldn’t have faced someone as good as Ishida this early in his comeback. Kirkland still might have been able to beat Ishida had he chosen to box him instead of trying to slug it out. Kirkland is reportedly back with his old trainer Ann Wolfe, so hopefully she can get him back in shape and have him continue his progress towards an eventual world title shot. Kirkland needs to learn how to box more because he’s too wide open when he attacks all out and his chin is less than sturdy as we’ve found out.



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