By Jim Dower: #2 WBC 154 contender James Kirkland (31-1, 27 KO’s) is the leading candidate to face WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KO’s) on September 15th on HBO pay-per-view, according to the LA Times. Richard Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, wants this in house Golden Boy fight between Alvarez and Kirkland despite their being arguably much better fights out there for the 21-year-old Alvarez.
Alvarez could fight WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Sergio Martinez or Miguel Cotto if he wanted to, as all three fighters are VERY interested in facing the young Alvarez. However, Golden Boy Promotions look as if they’re going to continue to move Alvarez up in small increments. Kirkland is actually a pretty good opponent, but clearly below Martinez, Chavez Jr. and Cotto in terms of being a threat to Alvarez.
Kirkland is coming off of both surgery and a dreadful performance against Carlos Molina last March. Kirkland, 28, won the fight by a 10th round disqualification in a fight in which he was getting dominated. At the end of the 10th, Kirkland knocked down Molina. After the referee finished the count with Molina back on his feet, the round ended and Molina’s corner, thinking the round was offer, stepped into the ring.
The referee then disqualified Molina. It playing it by the book, to be sure, but it was a case where the referee should have given a warning rather than disqualifying Molina because it ruined the fight and made that one call the whole focus rather than the action.
Kirkland looked clueless all fight long, missing shots and showing no skills on the inside. Somewhere along the way, Kirkland tore up his right shoulder, which needed surgery a week after the fight. His shoulder is now okay, and he’ll likely be the next opponent for Alvarez as long as there’s no setbacks in his recovery.
Alvarez defeated 40-year-old Shane Mosley last weekend by a one-sided 12 round decision. The fight should have never been made in the first place, because Mosley has nothing left and just took punishment. This was basically same kind of opponent as Alvarez’s fights against other 40-year-old fighters recently Lovemore N’dou and Carlos Baldomir. At this point Alvarez shouldn’t be still fighting 40-year-olds, not when he’s the World Boxing Council champion.
Alvarez may have some problems with Kirkland’s power and pressure if he decides to fight him in a slugging match. Alvarez looked uncomfortable with the pressure that Mosley was putting on him, and Mosley had no power to hurt him. Kirkland, if nothing else, can punch. He’s slow, though, and he doesn’t have an inside game. This is where Alvarez can take advantage of Kirkland’s lack of skills by working him over on the inside to pound out an easy 12 round decision.
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