McGirt’s somewhat up-and-down career, at least of late, found him losing for the first time on April 11 to a fighter he had out on his feet, Carlos "Baby Sugar" DeLeon (20-2-2, 12 KOs), rebounding from that with an impressive performance on ESPN to defeat former IBO and WBU middleweight champion Raymond "Hallelujah" Joval (37-4, 16 KOs) by 10-round decision last July, which moved McGirt up as high as No. 8 in The Ring’s ratings, but then fighting a disappointing 10-round draw with Marcus Upshaw (8-3) in his last fight this past November.
"I need to stop taking people lightly," McGirt admitted. "This isn’t a joke; boxing is a serious sport. I looked past him (Upshaw) to an HBO fight in January (since scrapped). He trained for 5-6 weeks and really came to fight. I take my hat off to him. I had to lose some weight at the end that I shouldn’t have had to worry about and I paid the consequences. I am now working hard to take control of myself, mentally. Guys are coming to beat me and my father (former 2-time world champion and James’ trainer, "Buddy" McGirt). They bring their ‘A’ game. I hurt him (Upshaw) in the first round and then waited around too long, loading up for a one-punch knockout. If the fight’s easy, I get lackadaisical and go into a slump for a few rounds. Before I know it, I’m behind, and then I need to come on. I had a bad day, got a draw, and now there’s nothing to do now but learn from it and move on. I want to fight the top middleweights but, mentally, I have to be in control. It’s not like in basketball when you’re in a zone and you feel nobody can stop you. You can’t do that in boxing because punches are being thrown at your head."
James McGirt, Jr., in a press release. That's some humble, honest stuff.
about 1 year ago
SC
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Comments
like the tone
sounds good, I hope he has learned. I really like the way he distinguishes boxing from many other sports and totally agree with him. It’s amazing fighter’s can get lazy in the ring considering the context, but it certainly happens. I am now a James McGirt, jr. fan until further notice
by lcollins1 on Dec 24, 2008 1:35 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Seriousness aside
I’m just not sure he’s talented enough. Joval was a great win (in a fight I didn’t see, so I can’t really comment on it), but he also hadn’t fought a live opponent in a long time and also was prone to look lackadaisical at times.
Vogt early, Vogt often.
by Brickhaus on Dec 24, 2008 5:50 PM EST reply actions 0 recs










