James Kirkland vs Willie Nelson could headline May 24 HBO card

James Kirkland may be back in the ring on May 24, as he is reportedly in discussions to face Willie Nelson in an HBO Boxing After Dark main event, according to Fightnews.com.

Kirkland (32-1, 28 KO) returned from a 21-month absence in December, beating Glen Tapia in a brutal fight on HBO. Nelson (21-1-1, 12 KO) was originally slated to fight that night, too, as he was signed to face Matthew Macklin, but he pulled out due to injury and was replaced by Lamar Russ.

Kirkland-Nelson was originally sought as a co-feature to an April 26 HBO show headlined by Gennady Golovkin vs Andy Lee, but when that fight was called off with Golovkin mourning the passing of his father, the Kirkland-Nelson fight was also sidelined. Eventually, HBO scrapped their plans to have a fight on that date, but Kirkland-Nelson now looks as though it will still happen, just a month later than planned.

A max weight for the fight could be anywhere from 154 to 160, most likely somewhere between, like 156.