Canelo-Kirkland

Kirkland won’t be trained by Wolfe for Canelo Alvarez fight

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kirkland334By Dan Ambrose: In what you have to see as a bad sign for the May 2nd clash between James Kirkland and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Kirkland reportedly won’t be trained by his long-time trainer Ann Wolfe for their fight at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

According to Fight Saga, Kirkland won’t be using Wolfe for the fight for unknown reasons. Instead of Wolfe, Kirkland will be trained by Gerald Tucker.

This is obviously a controversial move because the 30-year-old Kirkland’s best fights have been with Wolfe training him. When Kirkland fought without Wolfe training him in his 2011 fight against Japan’s Nobuhiro Ishiada, after Kirkland had been released from prison on a two-year stint for a weapon’s violation, a flabby Kirkland was blasted out in one round.

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Canelo vs. Kirkland on May 2nd or 9th at Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas

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canelo6767By Dan Ambrose: Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya has made it official about his fighter former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to be fighting James Kirkland at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

The dates of the fight will be either May 2nd or May 9, depending on whether the Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao goes ahead for May 2nd.

The idea of placing the fight at the Alamodome in San Antonio is obviously one where De La Hoya and Canelo are hoping to take advantage of the huge crowd that Canelo drew for his fight against Austin Trout in April of 2013.

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De La Hoya still insisting Canelo-Kirkland will take place on May 2nd unless Mayweather-Pacquiao fight happens

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delahoya7777By Dan Ambrose: Despite the Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Manny Pacquiao fight likely to get made for May 2nd, Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar de La Hoya is still saying that he’s going to have his fighter Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) fight the inactive James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) on the same night unless Mayweather and Pacquiao actually takes place.

De La Hoya says Canelo-Kirkland fight will take place on 5/2 if Mayweather fights anyone else but Pacquiao. This means that De La Hoya and Canelo are willing to risk getting low ratings for his fight against Kirkland.

This obviously isn’t the smartest thing to do if your goal is to make the 24-year-old Canelo more popular, because right now he’s proven that he doesn’t have the popularity to bring in big pay-per-view numbers like Pacquiao and Mayweather.

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Canelo will beat Kirkland, says Marquez

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canelo56By Dan Ambrose: Mexican great Juan Manuel Marquez is picking former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) to beat James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) in their fight on May 2nd at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Marquez doesn’t give his reasons for believing that the 24-year-old Canelo will beat Kirkland, but it probably has a lot to do with Canelo being the more active fighter, and Kirkland having to lose more than 40+ pounds to make the 155 pound catch-weight on May 2nd.

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Kirkland close to 200 pounds, says Rafael

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By Dan Ambrose: Former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s scheduled opponent for May 2nd, James Kirkland (31-1, 28 KOs) is reportedly near 200 pounds for their catch-weight fight at 155 pounds, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. If this weight is correct, then Kirkland is going to need to lose close to 45 pounds in a little over three months in order to make the 155 pound catch-weight.

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Kirkland already training hard for Canelo fight

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kirkland334By Dan Ambrose: A fleshy looking James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) says he’s already started training camp for his fight against Mexican star Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) on May 2nd at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Kirkland, 30, looks like he’s going to need to make a significant part of his training camp a fat farm to drop weight, because he looks like he’s put on quite a bit of weight since he last fought over a year ago in December of 2013 against Glen Tapia.

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Canelo vs. Kirkland breakdown

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canelo6767By DA: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1 31 KO’s) will be facing slugger James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland (32-1-0 28 KO’s) on May 2nd in a HBO broadcast which will be non-PPV. The bout is subject to be rescheduled if the Floyd Mayweather Jr – Manny Pacquiao fight does get made.

Then the fight will be moved to a later date “out of respect for the fans” says Golden boy President Oscar De la Hoya. But in reality HBO won’t have two events on the same night because for the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight on HBO will be doing a joint PPV broadcast along with Showtime.

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Canelo vs. Kirkland at 155lb catch-weight

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canelo76By Dan Ambrose: The May 2nd fight between former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) and the ring rusty James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) will be taking place at a catch-weight of 155 pounds instead of at the regulation weight of 154 for junior middleweight, according to Steve Kim.

The fight will essentially be another middleweight bout for the red-headed Canelo, who has fought his last two fights at 155 pound catch-weights against Erislandy Lara and Alfredo Angulo.

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Kirkland with great shot at beating Canelo, says Robert Garcia

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canelo76By Dan Ambrose: Golden Boy Promotions has obviously picked out slugger James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) for their franchise fighter Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) to fight on May 2nd in hopes that Kirkland will be another version of Alfredo Angulo for Canelo to look good against when they face each other on HBO from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Kirkland, who isn’t fast, is a plodder like Angulo with good power, but he’s very easy to hit and he’s had chin problems in the past. The idea is for Canelo to meet him in center ring and use his superior hand speed to give Kirkland a beat down to make him look good again, which he hasn’t looked since the Angulo fight.

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