James Kirkland Demolished in 1 Round by 35 year old Japanese Journeyman!!!

[prototypeofamodernmadman]

holy shit, I just downloaded a Hungarian broadcast of the James Kirkland fight and after looking over the run time (obviously a first round stoppage) and at Kirklands opponent, a Japanese journeyman with 6 losses in 28 fights with only 7 ko's, I figured that this was going to be a boring first round blowout over an over matched opponent,

when Kirkland was dropped about 20 seconds in I figured, he must have underestimated this guy and will now retaliate and rip his head off,

nope, Kirkland was dropped a second time with a prefect one - two flush on the chin dumping him for a second time, badly hurt, Kirkland landed some good bombs but without the usual snap only to be dropped hard a third and final time as Cortez saved him from further punishment,

I love watching a over hyped supposed "destroyer" get his ass handed to him, it was great, I couldn't believe what I was seeing,

imagine if Kirkland had been thrown in with Angulo, or Pirog, or god forbid Sergio Martinez like HBO was suggesting

[GanchoIzquierdo]

And the punch that sent him down the first time was a jab, to top it all off.

[Overhand_Right]

Good punches, but Kirkland's reaction to them suggests he has no chin at all:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDRAwf2dY2o

[Crold1]

Kirkland's chin has always been suspect and since he's been back everything that touches him rocks him. Bad sign.

[gregbeyer]

first david lemieux and now kirkland.

these are boxings saviors ?

the new breed ?

carmen basilio our nation turns its lonely eyes to you ......

greg

[mrbig1]

I was one of those who was never sold on Kirkland to begin with. Is he still with Ann Wolfe?

[Elwill7847]

No, he is no longer trained by Ann Wolfe.

[hagler04]

This will happen more and more. Fighters today don't learn anything about proper defense. Some skills that used to be derided as basic just aren't taught anymore . . .

[prototypeofamodernmadman]

Quote from Kirkland:

“He [Ishida] wasn't anything. He had no power. This was messed up."

uh huh, not only does he have no chin he also has no class to go with it.

[Ron Lipton]

It was a great win for Ishida and Kirkland's comment about he had no power is up in the trees to me. However, I saw many posts elsewhere and I have to agree with them that even though he was dropped, the way Cortez smothered him with his body while he was trying to get up was not the way to go. Give the guy a chance to get up and if he wobbles or staggers then stop it, but to press into him like that is bizarre.

Also not letting him go and forcing him with your own body all the way across the ring into the ropes would have pissed off a lot of boxers, what is with the full court belly press thing? I saw another ref smother a guy trying to stand with his groin pushing into the rising fighter's face not allowing him to even try to stand.

Am I missing something from some body smothering referee seminar?

[PD99]

Quote from Kirkland:

“He [Ishida] wasn't anything. He had no power. This was messed up."

uh huh, not only does he have no chin he also has no class to go with it.

True, no class.

And, after being rolled in the fashion that he was, one might think that it would've been in Kirkland's best interests to actually pay compliment to Ishida's demonstrated power rather than spout something that really amounts to an indirect admission of a fatal flaw within himself.

At any rate, if someone hurt me multiple times before ultimately knocking me out for the first time in my career, within my subjective realm, that someone can definitely punch.

I imagine that the medium punch to the china chin might feel just as devastating as the legitimate power shot to the good/excellent chin.

However, if I begin to find that the punch of every man and his dog shakes me to my heels, then I am in position to stand back in all objectivity and figure that my whiskers are relatively well below par.

For what it's worth, notwithstanding the innocuous appearance of the first KD punch, Ishida's patient and well placed shots thereafter on an already hurt Kirkland were reasonably impressive and Ishida does have that classic build for potential power punching.

[walshb]

It was a great win for Ishida and Kirkland's comment about he had no power is up in the trees to me. However, I saw many posts elsewhere and I have to agree with them that even though he was dropped, the way Cortez smothered him with his body while he was trying to get up was not the way to go. Give the guy a chance to get up and if he wobbles or staggers then stop it, but to press into him like that is bizarre.

Also not letting him go and forcing him with your own body all the way across the ring into the ropes would have pissed off a lot of boxers, what is with the full court belly press thing? I saw another ref smother a guy trying to stand with his groin pushing into the rising fighter's face not allowing him to even try to stand.

Am I missing something from some body smothering referee seminar?

Surely there is some rules regarding a hurt fighter. The refs should not be touching, holding or pushing a hurt fighter. The doctor should straight away be called.

I will always remember Duran being physically lifted to his feet after being
badly hurt by Hearns. That was wrong. The guy should have been assessed first before
this, as should any distressed and hurt fighter

[apollack]

Joe Cortes is one of the worst referees in boxing. Several folks have been saying that for years, and yet boxing, which loves to shoot itself in the foot, insists on continuing to give him assignments, and even gives him accolades. I don't know why.

Anyway, bottom line is Kirkland is a very entertaining fighter to watch. Sometimes ass beaters get caught because their primary focus isn't defense but to hit and beat down their opponents, which makes for entertaining fights. Putting yourself in harm's way can mean that you get harmed. We must take the good with the bad. I have always said that Kirkland's undoing will be his defense and reckless style. However, he's going to be fun to watch no matter who he is in there with. Anyone can get caught. It happens. Happened to Lennox. Happened to Marvin Hart against Billy Hanrahan. Doesn't mean he has no chin. I saw Kirkland take some bombs in several of his fights. Fact is he just got out of prison and anyone who knows boxing knows that after a long layoff a fighter is never the same, and he won't be for a while. Yes, he does need to work more on his defense and relaxation. Regardless, would you rather see a guy run around and grab and stink it out for 10 rounds, or a guy who goes in there with a kill or be killed mentality, who scores a KO or gets KO'd? Personally, I have watched enough stinkfests to last a lifetime. When I have been in a room full of people for a PPV and it isn't a war, folks don't even watch the bout, and just sit around and talk. But when you see an ass kicker in there, especially when he's in there with a guy fighting back, everyone watches intently.

[diggity]

I can't say that I'm surprised, but this was strange.
I could have sworn I've seen Kirkland take a few heavy shots before.
That first shot that put him down was a strange one behind the ear.
To his defense, it seemed more like equilibrium problems than pure hurt from the shots he took.
He appeared pretty clear despite the KDs and never really had that "far away" look when someone is truly hurt and dazed.
His balance was likely clouded from that first shot which made him soft for the other KDs.
Who knows, and in the end, who cares.
I highly doubt Kirkland will ever be the same.
I think it's a classic case of the shattering of a bully's ego.
I was never sold on him to begin with so this this was only a matter of time for me.
These wild, athletic, all-offense, no-defense guys usually go down in the same blaze they came up in.

I don't agree with how Cortez handled Kirkland either.
He's a ref, not a doctor.

[gregbeyer]

james kirkland has donated valuable ring time to stir twice already in his young career. at 27 he would seem young enough to right the ship but this guy appears to be fighting too many demons. anne wolfe seemed to have grounded him for awhile and i can't help but wonder if she could have kept him together in this fight.

nobuhiro ishida did not appear, in the fight or by his record, to be a big puncher but he was tall and had never been stopped, a bad combination for the stocky slugger. can't help but think ishida did james a favor. had kirkland rolled over the rangy japanese hero he would most certainly have met a worse fate against sergio martinez.

was the 3 knock down rule in effect in this fight ?

greg

[diggity]

Kirkland said it wasn't (or maybe a commentator).
From the looks of how easily he was going down, a 5 KD rule wasn't going to help him.

[gregbeyer]

Kirkland said it wasn't (or maybe a commentator).
From the looks of how easily he was going down, a 5 KD rule wasn't going to help him.

i was wondering if that was why cortez clung to him .....

greg

[diggity]

I'm sure that had something to do with it, but it was still a bit too emphatic for my taste.