James Derick Kirkland is an American

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who held the regional WBO– NABO

junior middleweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the International Boxing Federation, IBF or ...

title in 2008. He was one of boxing's most prominent junior middleweight prospects in the late 2000s and early 2010s, until an 18-month prison stint set his career back significantly. Nicknamed the "Mandingo Warrior", Kirkland is known for being a highly aggressive southpaw

pressure fighter Throughout the history of gloved boxing styles, techniques and strategies have changed to varying degrees. Ring conditions, promoter demands, teaching techniques, and the influence of successful boxers are some of the reasons styles and strategies ...

with formidable punching power, having scored 88% of his victories via

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

Amateur career

Kirkland has an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

record of 134–12 and won the

Silver Gloves The Silver Gloves is an annual competition for amateur boxing in the United States. The contest is sponsored by Ringside, Inc. The Silver Gloves are open to all non-professional pugilists age 10 to 15 years old. The Silver Gloves is not the Go ...

championship four years in a row and lost on a controversial decision to James Patterson in the finals of the

National Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nationa ...

. Instead of going to the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, Kirkland turned professional to provide for his family.

Professional career

Kirkland turned professional in August 2001 in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. In his debut Kirkland defeated fellow debutant Maurice Chalmers with a third-round knockout. Kirkland has been trained by former women's champion

Ann Wolfe Ann Wolfe (born January 17, 1971) is an American retired boxer, trainer and actress. Wolfe held world titles in three different weight classes simultaneously and is regarded as one of the greatest female boxers of all time. She is a member of th ...

since 2001. On November 22, 2008, Kirkland (24–0, 21 KOs) won an 8th round

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

versus

Brian Vera Bryan Lee Vera (born December 28, 1981) is an American professional boxer currently competing as a super middleweight. He is best known for his memorable and notable victories over then-undefeated Andy Lee in 2008, former world champion Sergio ...

(16–2, 10 KOs). Kirkland dropped Vera twice in Round 2. On March 7, 2009, Kirkland defeated

Joel Julio Joel Jalil Julio Mejia (born January 18, 198in Montería, Colombia) is a professional Colombian boxer rated as a junior middleweight. In 2005, he was named ESPN.com's Boxing Prospect of the Year and he has appeared on Ring Magazine's New Face ...

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

's Boxing After Dark at the

HP Pavilion HP Pavilion is a line of consumer-oriented laptop and desktop computers produced by HP Inc. It was introduced in 1995 by Hewlett-Packard. The name is applied to both desktops and laptops for the Home and Home Office product range. The Pavilion ...

in San Jose by TKO after Round 6.

Return to boxing

On March 5, 2011, Kirkland returned to the ring after an almost 2-year layoff to defeat Ahsandi Gibbs via first-round KO. Two weeks later he stopped Jhon Berrio by 2nd round TKO. Just 3 weeks after that, on April 9, 2011, Kirkland faced

Nobuhiro Ishida is a Japanese former professional boxer. He is a former WBA interim super welterweight champion who is best known for knocking out James Kirkland in a middleweight bout at the MGM Grand Las Vegas in April 2011. Ishida has so far been promoted ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, in what was supposed to be a stay-busy fight for Kirkland. However, in a stunning upset, the previously undefeated Kirkland was stopped in the first round by the Japanese fighter, who isn't known for being a big puncher having only 7 KO's in 29 fights, getting knocked down 3 times. After the loss, Kirkland split with trainer Kenny Adams and reunited with Ann Wolfe. Kirkland and Wolfe had broken up after Kirkland went to prison. Kirkland came back from his first-round knockout loss to score three knockdowns over Alexis Hloros en route to a second-round knockout. He entered the fight his usual aggression, looking to mix it up immediately and scored two knockdowns in the opening round. First, Hloros went down during a flurry and then he took a knee during another stream of punches.

Kirkland vs. Angulo

On November 5, 2011, in a highly exciting fight, Kirkland rose from a first round knockdown to defeat Angulo via 6th-round TKO. In addition to his aforementioned victories over Angulo, Kirkland's other notable wins have been against Brian Vera (TKO8), who just lost a controversial decision to Julio César Chávez Jr., Joel Julio (TKO6) and Eromosele Albert (TKO1). On October 16, 2013, it was announced that Kirkland, has signed with promoter/rap star

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

and his company SMS Promotions and has his next fight lined up. On December 7, 2013, Kirkland continued his winning ways with a sixth-round TKO of 23-year-old prospect Glen Tapia at the

Boardwalk Hall Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, formerly known as the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, is a multi-purpose arena in Atlantic City in Atlantic County, New Jersey. It was Atlantic City's primary convention center until the opening of the Atlanti ...

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

. In the article, Kirkland was described as 'potentially, the most dominant offensive force in boxing since a prime Mike Tyson'.

Kirkland vs. Álvarez

Kirkland fought former Super Welterweight Champion

Canelo Álvarez Santos Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez Barragán (; born 18 July 1990) is a Mexican professional boxer. He has won multiple world championships in four weight classes from light middleweight to light heavyweight, including unified titles in three of ...

after his decision victory over

Erislandy Lara Erislandy Lara Santoya (born 11 April 1983) is a Cuban-American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the WBA (Regular) middleweight title since 2021. Previously he held various versions ...

on July 12. The fight took place on May 9 at

Minute Maid Park Minute Maid Park is a retractable roof stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. It opened in 2000 as the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Houston Astros. It has a seating capacity of 41,168, which includes 5,197 club seats and 63 ...

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

with Kirkland losing by KO in 3rd round.

Professional boxing record

Outside the ring

As of 2009, Kirkland was on probation for an armed robbery conviction in 2003, for which he spent 30 months in prison. On Sunday, April 19, 2009, Kirkland was stopped in Austin traffic and arrested for possession of a firearm by a

felon A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

. On Wednesday, September 23, 2009, Kirkland was sentenced to 24 months in prison after pleading guilty to the firearm charge. Kirkland was released from prison in September 2010 and spent several more months in a halfway house in Austin, Texas. In June 2013, Kirkland was arrested for assault causing bodily injury and family violence. In 2016 he was again arrested, this time for failing to pay child support.Bradshaw, Kelsey (August 25, 2016
Former boxing champion James Kirkland arrested in Austin over child support payments
''San Antonio Express-News''. Retrieved 2022-12-10.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkland, James Year of birth missing (living people) Date of birth missing (living people) Living people Sportspeople from Austin, Texas Boxers from Texas American male boxers Southpaw boxers Light-middleweight boxers