Kirkland vs. Vera on November 22nd – Latest Boxing News

Image: Kirkland vs. Vera on November 22nd - Boxing News 24 Boxing NewsBy Jim Dower: Unbeaten knockout artist light middleweight James Kirkland (23-0, 20 KOs) will be taking on the sternest fight of his young seven-year boxing career when he goes up against former star from The Contender Brian Vera (16-1, 10 KOs) in a 10-round bout on the Ricky Hatton-Paulie Malignaggi undercard on November 22nd at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Kirkland, 24, a fighter with Mike Tyson-like power and aggression, has thus far stormed through the light middleweight division, taking out 20 of his 23 opponents, with 18 of the knockouts occurring in four rounds or less. His chin and defense, though, are less than impressive, making him vulnerable at times even against the marginal opposition that he has fought thus far in his career.

He was knocked down in the first round by Allen Conyers in November, 2007, and although he turned around and took Conyers out, there were several moments in which it looked as if he was going to be knocked out. Kirkland also struggled in defeating Ossie Duran in June 2007.

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Kirkland Too Much For Cortes

kirkland344324.jpgBy Jim Dower: Undefeated junior middleweight contender James Kirkland (23-0, 20 KOs) took out Ricardo Cortes (22-3-1, 15 KOs) in the 2nd round of a scheduled 10-round bout on Friday night at the Music Hall, in Austin, Texas. Kirkland, 24, looking a little bulkier in the upper body and somewhat slower than in his previous fights, dropped Cortes in the 2nd round with a powerful right hand, and then accidentally added another right hand while he was down for good measure. Cortes got up off the canvas and courageously fought back while backed to the ropes, taking a couple of good shots from Kirkland then firing back with a good right hand of his own.

However, just at that moment, referee Gregorio Alvarez stepped in and halted the fight. Quite obviously, it was a bad stoppage leaving most everybody unsatisfied with the result, not least of which Cortes who looked like he still had some life left in him. The referee, though, was perhaps thinking that Cortes wasn’t going to be lasting too much longer. He was staggered twice in the 1st round, barely escaping without being knocked out, and then in the second round he was getting pummeled up until the knockdown. Cortes, a good fighter, seemed too slender and weak to compete with the bulky, powerful, Tyson-like Kirkland who was having his way with him in almost every second of the fight.

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Kirkland Crushes Albert

kirkland422.jpgBy Nate Anderson: Hard-punching undefeated light middleweight contender James Kirkland (22-0, 19 KOs) made short work of his Nigerian opponent Eromosele Albert (21-2, 10 KOs), stopping him in the 1st round to win the vacant WBO NABO light middleweight title on Saturday night at the Buffalo Bills Hotel, in Primm, Nevada. Fighting on the same card as light middleweight prospect Alfredo Angulo and super featherweight sensation Yuriorkis Gamboa, the 24 year-old Kirkland seemed to make the biggest statement of three with his stunning 1st round TKO of the veteran Albert, knocking him down twice in the process.

Kirkland, known for his fast knockouts of his opponents, came out on fire in the first round, immediately taking the fight to Albert and hitting him with hard lefts to the head. Albert, 33, hardly had time to throw one right hand before suddenly being knocked to the canvas with a right-left combination from Kirkland. Albert never saw the second punch, the left hand, coming for he looked surprised as laid there on the canvas bleeding from his forehead. He got up, staggered around, blinking his eyes hard and appearing very hurt.

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Kirkland vs. Albert: James Takes A Big Step Up

kirkland222242.jpgBy Eric Thomas: Undefeated light middleweight contender James Kirkland (21-0, 18 KOs) faces his toughest test to date this Saturday night against the hard-punching Nigerian fighter Eromosele Albert (21-1, 10 KOs) in a bout for the vacant WBO NABO light middleweight title at the Buffalo Bills Hotel, in Primm, Nevada. Kirkland, 24, is coming off an exciting action packed bout with Allen Conyers in November 2007, a bout in which both fighters traded first round knockdowns before Kirkland’s superior power eventually took over and he was able to stop him later in the round with another knockdown. Since turning professional in 2001, it has been only in the past year that Kirkland has started to build a name for himself with victories over Billy Lyell, Ossie Duran, Mohammed Said and the aforementioned Conyers.

Most of the fights have been shown on ESPN, which has allowed a fairly substantial viewing public to see Kirkland fight. After watching his fight with Lyell, an 8th round TKO, l in February 2007, I can see why Kirkland has been getting so much television coverage. He goes right after his opponents from the opening bell in a style somewhat reminiscent of a Tough Man contest in which both fighters forgo any thoughts of defense while they try to take each other out as quickly as possible. In Kirkland’s case, he has a lot of skills and tremendous power to go with his high pressure style of fighting, which makes him much more appealing than the average fighters that are generally shown on cable.

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Kirkland Destroys Conyers

Perhaps one of the best prospects in the junior middleweight division, undefeated James Kirkland (21-0, 18 KOs) survived a first round knockdown to comeback and obliterate Allen Conyers (11-3, 9 KOs) at 2:56 of the 1st round on Friday night at the the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California. Kirkland, 23, immediately opened up on Conyers in the 1st round, driving him to the ropes with left hooks and straight right hands.

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Kirkland Destroys Said

kirkland24242424.jpgUnbeaten junior middleweight prospect James Kirkland (20-0, 17 KOs) knocked out Mohammed Said (21-6-1, 14 KOs) in the 2nd round on Saturday night at the Emerald Queen Casino, in Tacoma, Washington. Kirkland knocked Said down twice in the first round, and then a final time in round two. Said wasn’t able to beat the count on after the 3rd knockdown.

Unlike in his last fight against Ossie Duran in June 2007, Kirkland, 23, came in tip top shape, showing no signs of excess fight or poor fatigue which hampered him in his last outing against Duran. While receiving he referee’s instruction, it seemed immediately clear that Said, 33, looked badly frightened of Kirkland. I knew the look, having seen it many times before with fighters that were seemingly psyched out before they even landed a blow. Sometimes it turned out to be no big deal, as they were able to go out and fight effectively. However, more often than not, it was a signal that they were going to lose the fight badly.

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