Action Heroes Update: James Kirkland Knocked Out in One, Malignaggi Cruises
by Scott Christ on Apr 9, 2011 10:14 PM EDT
in Boxing Results and Post-Fight Analysis
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The first two fights of the HBO PPV from the MGM Grand have been eventful, and with the two main events to come, we might be looking at a memorable night.
In the opener, Paulie Malignaggi (29-4, 6 KO) won a wide ten round decision over Jose Miguel Cotto (32-3-1, 24 KO). Malignaggi won on scores of 99-91 (twice) and 97-93. Bad Left Hook scored it 99-91 for Malignaggi. Paulie was simply far more active and landed too many punches, and even faded in the speed department, much too fast for the older, less talented Cotto brother. He becomes the first fighter to ever go 1-1 against the Cotto brothers, as both Martin Ramirez and Ubaldo Hernandez both went 0-2 against them.
The second fight was a pure stunner. If you told anyone that the fight between James Kirkland and Nobuhiro Ishida would go 1:52 and finish on a third knockdown, I don't think anyone would have been stunned. But the fact that Ishida came away the victor is going to stun the boxing world. Ishida (23-6-2, 8 KO) floored Kirkland (27-1, 24 KO) almost instantly with a left hand, and floored him again just after that with another one. But it was a right hand that finished the fight at 1:52. Nobody saw this coming, and now we've seen so many upsets this weekend that it's almost ridiculous.
We continue on with coverage of the double main event here.
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I feel sad for Kirkland. He’s been hit square by much bigger punchers, I don’t get it.
He looked much less intense and less warmed up than usual. I hope that had something to do with it. James doesn’t have much good besides boxing.
"You can't search me without probable cause Or that proper ammunition they call reasonable suspicion Listen while I bring friction to your whole jurisdiction" - Fugees
He looks physically depleted to me. Maybe it’s just me. But he’s not the same guy he was in 2009.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Apr 10, 2011 2:42 AM EDT up reply actions
yea. He doesn’t look good. He didn’t look good the last time out either.
I don’t know where he goes from here.
"You can't search me without probable cause Or that proper ammunition they call reasonable suspicion Listen while I bring friction to your whole jurisdiction" - Fugees
He needs to get Ann Wolfe on the horn yesterday. Call her until she picks up. Beg. Find yourself again. He’s not James Kirkland right now. If anyone can come back from a TKO-1, JK can. But he also sounded delusional post-fight. So I don’t know.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Apr 10, 2011 3:00 AM EDT up reply actions
yea, I noticed Pops Billingsley is still in his corner. I’d definitely welcome the return of Ann.
As much of a great night it was for Morales, this one was just sickening for me to watch.
"You can't search me without probable cause Or that proper ammunition they call reasonable suspicion Listen while I bring friction to your whole jurisdiction" - Fugees
You know what Ishida had? He can box. And he can counter. Kirkland flat couldn’t handle that. It was upsetting. A guy NOBODY gave a chance stood up, fearless, and said, “I’m going to hit you.” And Kirkland crumbled.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Apr 10, 2011 3:10 AM EDT up reply actions
That said, a solid dose of the likes of Ann Wolfe might do a lot, or someone as good as she is anyway. His conditioning just looks awful. So was his boxing, which was weird, because it didn’t used to be that bad. But he is now 27-1-0-24, so you might not want to throw that baby out with the bathwater either, even tho’ last nite was discouraging.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
the obvious thing that discouraged me is the chin. Before his last two fights, I’ve never seen him have that kind of ridiculous problem with his chin. He’d been hit by relatively big-punchers, and even dropped early in his career.
But wtf was that?
"You can't search me without probable cause Or that proper ammunition they call reasonable suspicion Listen while I bring friction to your whole jurisdiction" - Fugees
It may be that his chin is for some reason shot (that could be partly conditioning too—think how they lift heavy weights with their heads to strengthen neck muscles and resistance), or—sometimes the best chins get nailed just right, some funny angle they just can’t weather, and down they go. But his condition looks really poorly to me—it’s not like he’s fat, but his flesh looks loose on his body, the muscles are there but not hard and strong. Looks dissipated, not saying he is.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
I don't want to re-post
But I posted just below that his (lack of) chin must be one of his promotional team’s best kept secrets.
"Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer"
---- Muhammed Ali
I’ve watched Kirk in sparring and in pro fights for almost 8 years. If he has the kind of chin problem that showed up last night, it’s new.
You can’t do what he did to Joel Julio with a chin problem. Joel hit him with everything he had in the third round. And others, and amateurs.
it’s weird.
"You can't search me without probable cause Or that proper ammunition they call reasonable suspicion Listen while I bring friction to your whole jurisdiction" - Fugees
yes
not sure what’s the matter with him now other than too much time in jail, which could certainly do it, but I’m not sure his chin is as bad as Saturday made it look. He currently looks too bad all over to figure it’s just his chin. The whole package was a mess. And tho’ he was never what you’d call a good boxer, he was crude for sure, but still loads better than Saturday’s and the couple of earlier post-jail fights. His team appears in hindsight to be pushing too hard, too fast, and acting as if these sanctioned bouts are just sparring matches—he needs more conditioning and recovery time, just for a start. But you can’t ever write anybody off, a lot of them disappear after something like this, some make it back and do fine.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
He should go back to Ann, Anne.
"You can't search me without probable cause Or that proper ammunition they call reasonable suspicion Listen while I bring friction to your whole jurisdiction" - Fugees
Best chance he's got if she'll take him
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
I always thought Kirkland was another hype job to be honest.Crude,extremely limited skills with just a big punch…He’s now shown that he’s got chin issues too by going down not once but three times to a non puncher.
I saw the fight and those were pretty heavy KD’s.
I was always wanting to see more proof with both him and Lemieux before jumping on the hype train….
9 times out of 10
A good boxer will beat a crude puncher…Even just a decent boxer can.
I was still suprised by how Morales showed this against Maidana last night but having good technique and sound fundamentals counts for a lot in this sport.
very true
Someone said this last night, but the Lemieux loss seems, ultimately, like not that big a deal. He lost a tough fight against a cagey vet with some pop, but he’s still young and can learn from the experience. Kirkland’s loss just seems like a total train wreck.
by The Boxer Rebellion on Apr 10, 2011 9:43 AM EDT up reply actions
Yeah
i can actually see some ability and potential with Lemieux to go along with the power but i don’t see much with Kirkland at all.
Lemieux doesn’t get to box enough. I once youtubed the entire Naugler fight, and DL was slightly pudgy and noticeably slower, but even so IIRC he boxed better then than vs Rubio.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
Nor does Kirkland
Get to box enough either.
Whatever his future may hold, he certainly has not had many professional rounds under his belt between prison and his own early wins.
"Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer"
---- Muhammed Ali
Kirkland sure didn’t get to box much last night.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Apr 10, 2011 11:27 AM EDT up reply actions
BA, I thought his body jiggled a bit too much against Rubio as well.
"Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer"
---- Muhammed Ali
for sure.
he wears the same pants every time, and you can see that they fit him better once upon a time. I’ve said and felt for a while this was in his way, even if he doesn’t look like Arreola. He’s been getting away with it with bells on, so why give up the French Canadian cooking? Now he knows. And the reason I think it could make a significant difference is that it made one when he came down from his 164 (!) vs Naugler. But I also don’t think he’d be strong at 154, too low. Which puts him maybe at a psychological disadvantage at 156-7, if he feels like he’s the smaller guy, but it’s what he should weigh, imo. Be his best fighting weight no matter what the other guy weighed.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
I don’t think it’s the only or even most important thing that needs work, but it slows him just the same.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
Well now that I finally got home
and watched the Kirkland debacle, I think it’s fair to say that of thge two, Lemieux seems to have a more developed sense of the whole of the game than does James.
DL has a lot of work to do and I am not sure at what weight his power translates … but I think he can compete on a very high level. Maybe not the elite but high nevertheless.
Both are entertaining but James Kirkland seems to have NO chin. As in zero. And that is not something you can train.
It has me wondering. His team must know that his chin is suspect. Given howe easily he was dropped, he must have been dropped in sparring numerous times in sparring. that may be one of the under-reported stories of the Kirkland saga. Either way, it’s no secret now.
"Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer"
---- Muhammed Ali
see my post above.
I’ve watched him for years, in sparring and real, the chin problem’s new.
"You can't search me without probable cause Or that proper ammunition they call reasonable suspicion Listen while I bring friction to your whole jurisdiction" - Fugees
Then I’m as stumped as you. It was indeed a very strange thing to see him getting dropped so easily.
"Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer"
---- Muhammed Ali
Have you ever seen this before?
I mean, James has been down, I don’t think anyone has ever said “Iron Chin” on that dude. Notably, Allen Conyers dropped him in an epic first round several years ago down at welter-weight.
But, I’ve never seen or heard his chin described as any kind of a liability.
But can a chin go like speed can go? I’ve never seen it happen. I know it can fade, it can get broken down, but he got hurt in his last fight right before the KO, and then last night happened.
It’s bizarre, I’m troubled by it. James is a good guy, like a big kid, you don’t see that a lot on tv. In Austin at the smokers or small pro events he’s always fucking around in the back, snapping towels and shit – not like a bully, but like a kid. If this is it, and he can’t take a punch, he’ll be back in prison, that’s my fear.
"You can't search me without probable cause Or that proper ammunition they call reasonable suspicion Listen while I bring friction to your whole jurisdiction" - Fugees
No
Not like last night. The punch that caused the first of three easy knockdowns was not in itself special. the fall, however, was. It was Liston like. Big guy, small punch …and huge fall.
I have no idea how you can go from resilient to fragile … in one night.
And I too see little malice in JK….but real trouble ahead if in fact last night was the real deal.
It is sad because the system is already stacked against him. If he is soon to be demoted to opponent, breaks will be few and far.
"Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer"
---- Muhammed Ali
It could be a cumulative effect
but I think it was a lucky angle + poor general conditioning and readiness. He’s just not even close to in shape, even tho’ he’s not fat. HIs muscle tone’s such a mess you can see it on tv, he looks flaccid in a weirdly ripped way.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
From reading all this about the man.
and checking out his Boxrec. It’s possible that Kirkland is just trying to go too low in weight at this point in his career. Kirkland started his career at WW, then went to prison for three years, after that he came back out as a JMW. After two more years of prison, its possible that he’s just retaining too much water to be able to have proper strength and still get under 160. “Freak” chin issues seem to have a pattern of popping up when a fighter overtrains or is fighting too much under his ideal fighting weight. Kirkland might want to reasses what weight he’s shooting for and how often he fights, and if he does that, I bet this chin “issue” goes away.
I guess I'll be the first to post it...
I’m sorry, but not suprised at all, to hear that The Magic Man broke at least one, if not both of his hands. I guess we won’t be hearing any of that sweet sweet bluster for at least 90 days + physician clearance :(.
He has awful hands
It’s some testament to his love of boxing that he continues, because losing both legs is nothing to losing (the use of) one hand. You need them.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
Just got my physician clearance for my right hand last month.
I know his pain, and I could still use my left. Love is love though, like you said!
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