This just in: James Kirkland is out of the hospital.
No immediate word on whether the chin transplant was successful but, after he got floored thrice by a 35 Japanese fighter named Nobohiro Ishida and stopped in the first round, the doubts about Kirkland’s ability to withstand punches are legion.
Poor Kirkland, on parole on gun related charges in the federal criminal system, and now he’s on what cheesy Dean Wormer, the Dizzy Dean of discipline bedeviled by Belushi and his frat brothers in “Animal House,” liked to refer to as “double secret probation.”
Except that neither his criminal case parole nor his boxing probation are secret.
Oracle Johnny Bos thinks Kirkland is either just a slow starter (he and Allan Conyers decked each other in a first round before Kirkland scored a KO 2) or a guy who has mental block about the opening round.
I don’t think his ex-trainer Ann Wolfe can teach Kirkland how to take punches. Not even Coach Freddie Roach can “teach” that skill. You either got it or you don’t.
What’s the old joke? They could have the round card girl come to Kirkland’s corner and flash the sign for Round 2, maybe that would fool him.
I’ll skip the lines about Kirkland being outgunned unless he’s got one.
Every blue moon, I sprinkle some praise into my caustic criticism and now I praise HBO’s Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman teaming up on Saturday night’s Golden Boy PPV show. I think they have a nice broadcast balance…
Kellerman was being forthright in calling the Kirkland match “a stay busy fight” for the Texan but his chin got checked three times and the only way I see his confidence being restored would be to fight Ishida in a rematch.
Having said that, I can’t see why promoter Akihiko Honda or trainer Rudy “Rude Dog” Hernandez would want that for Japan’s sudden, new ring star.
The MGM Grand crowd was small (employees were offered free rooms and tickets for the show) but vocal when Kirkland was less than a sportsman in his postfight interview with Mad Max.
Yes, Joe Cortez could’ve let it continue but Kirkland deserve the boos he heard for calling his three trips to the ring mat “all flash knockdowns” and not offering a single word of praise for the victor. Advertisement
Come on, James, when 15 punches produce three knockdowns, a fighter is a sharpshooter or the opponent has a balsa wood chin.
I laughed when Ishida accruately said of Kirkland, “He is supposed to win…”
Big Gary Shaw, who hoped to lure Kirkland to Mexico to fight Alfredo “Perro” Angulo, was in Panama watching the upset.
“I don’t get it why people take these so called tuneup fights,” Shaw said. “Go get a sparring partner, pay him $5.000 and have a real fight in the gym instead.
As far as Erik Morales-Marcos Maidana, I think the scrap revealed more about the younger man than the old Mexican warrior.
We always knew of and were in awe of Morales’ “competitive arrogance” (a nicely turned phrase used by Lamps on the telecast) but I just don’t see Maidana as any kind of great fighter. A good fighter, yes, but not great by any standard.
Despite Morales’ plea for a rematch, he really should hang the gloves up now. He goes out on a positive note and with his stature written in cement.
Morales’ right eye looked like Tiger Woods used it his golf tee for 36 minutes.
Everyone says Morales has taken good care of his boxing earnings.
Time to enjoy the fruits of his labors and leave the wars behind, El Terrible.
Maybe Kirkland can try cement, Krazy Glue or Elmer’s Glue All to fix his wobbly beard.
Say this for Kirkland, he’s never boring.
***********************************
Congrats to maker of champions, University of Nevada, Reno, boxing coach and Nevada commission inspector Mike Martino, who is celebrating two Wolf Pack fighters, 156 pounder Jeremy Catalano and 125 pounder Andrew Morales winning National Collegiate Boxing Association titles Saturday night at West Point.
Downstate rival UNLV also had two champions as Jerome Foster (139) and heavyweight Brett Rather copped crowns. Between them, the two Nevada colleges won 12 out of 12 matches in the three day event.
“It was a good night for both universities,” Martino said.
College boxing lives thanks to dedicated guys like Martino.
**********************************
