The May 9th fight that will come potentially a week late for Mexico’s biggest PPV star (as Floyd and Manny have already bagged the sought-after Mexican bank holiday weekend date, even though Cinco De Mayo is on the 5th) is being billed as “his toughest test yet” in many corners of the media, which is leaving many fight fans, especially neutrals, totally bemused.
Texas knockout artist James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) today hosted a media workout in San Antonio in advance of his face-off against Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) on May 9 at Minute Maid Park in Houston live on HBO World Championship Boxing ®. In attendance were James Kirkland’s trainers, Bay Bay McClinton and Rick Morones and Leija*Battah Promotions’ Mike Battah in addition to Texas boxing legend Jesse James Leija.
Texas fighters featured in the non-televised undercard for May 9 were also at today’s media workout including James Leija Jr., the son of Texas Boxing Legend Jesse James Leija; Austin’s Curtis Meeks (9-1-2, 3 KOs), San Antonio’s Cresencio Ramos (2-0, 1 KO), Cut and Shoot, Texas’s light heavyweight Alfonso “El Tigre” Lopez (23-3, 18 KOs), Houston lightweight Antonio Capulin (14-0, 6 KOs), and San Antonio’s Joseph Rodriguez (8-0, 2 KOs), all participated in the media workout.
Two of boxing’s toughest warriors, Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez and Texas titan James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland hosted press conferences on Tuesday, March 3 in Houston at Minute Maid Park and San Antonio at The Aztec Theater to announce details for their 12-round super welterweight showdown at Minute Maid Park in Houston on May 9. Oscar De La Hoya, Founder and President of Golden Boy Promotions, Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson, Chairman and CEO of SMS Promotions, Mike Battah, President of Leija*Battah and Texas boxing legend and Founder of Leija*Battah Promotions, Jesse James Leija, were also in attendance to discuss the much anticipated clash of two of boxing’s toughest fighters. Golden Boy Promotions, in association with Canelo Promotions, SMS Promotions and Leija*Battah Promotions will bring fans an explosive night of boxing on Saturday, May 9. The event will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing ®.
The wait is over. Two of boxing’s toughest warriors, Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez and the Texas titan James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland will clash in a 12-round super welterweight showdown at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas on Saturday, May 9, 2015. Golden Boy Promotions, in association with Canelo Promotions, SMS Promotions and Leija*Battah Promotions will bring fans an explosive night of boxing when these two exciting warriors finally meet in this much anticipated match-up which will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.
A lot of people seem to think James Kirkland’s chances in his scheduled May 2nd fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez are dramatically altered on whether or not Ann Wolfe is going to be in his corner on the night of the fight. The single loss on Kirkland’s career was a TKO in the first round and on that night he did not have Ann Wolfe as his trainer. Since reuniting with her he has gone on a five win streak against decent opposition which has lead to this fight.
He has employed the services of Gerald Tucker, and this has rubbed a lot of fans the wrong way, but this should not come as surprising news to most, as Kirkland has made a reputation for himself over the years as an inconsistent character.
Oscar De La Hoya, in a recent interview with FightHype, had a ton of compliments for the next man to be going up against Canelo Alvarez. He referenced James Kirklands victory over Alfredo Angulo as a highlight of Kirklands career and went on to say that the come forward style Kirkland brings will generate fireworks in this fight.
There have been a lot of questions about Saul Alvarez recently and he is receiving some very mixed opinions from the public and media at this point. In my opinion I can see both sides of the argument. On the positive side Alvarez has 44 wins in 46 fights with just one loss and one draw. At 24 years of age he has the time to amass a huge amount of fights by the time he retires and the fact that he has already fought with some of the best at such a young age is impressive. He has victories over notable names such as Erislandy Lara and Austin Trout and on top of this he has a pretty enjoyable style to watch and enjoys huge popularity which means he can nab the big fights.
An interesting match-up between WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (28-0, 25 KO’s) and the junior middleweight slugger James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KO’s) is being talked about for next April on HBO, says HBO President of Sports Ken Hershman via ESPN. Golovkin has a stay busy fight against fringe contender Osumanu Adama (22-3, 16 KO’s) on February 1st in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
After that mismatch out of the way, Golovkin plans on getting back in the ring quickly within just 2 months to fight on HBO in April.
Kirkland, 29, kind of revived his career with his 6th round TKO win over previously unbeaten Top Rank fighter Glen Tapia earlier this month in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
James Kirkland entered the ring on Saturday against undefeated Glen Tapia after a 20-month layoff full of injuries, drama, musical trainers, and another visit to jail. Nevertheless, it was business as usual as Kirkland didn’t seem to miss a beat. Kirkland, now 32-1 (28 KOs) stopped Glen Tapia (20-1, 12 KOs) in the sixth round of a brutal slugfest that saw both guys exchange shots that drew oohs and ahhs from the crowd.
Both fighters went to the body and head in the early parts of the fight. However, it was Kirkland that continued to mix the attack up while Tapia began to headhunt. The sweat-equity that Kirkland put into the body-assault began to pay off and Tapia began to slow down. Kirkland’s punches took their toll and Tapia seemed to lose his legs at least two rounds before the stoppage.
After impressively knocking out formerly undefeated Junior Middleweight Glen Tapia this past Saturday night on HBO’s Boxing After Dark, could James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) be looking at an immediate title opportunity in 2014?
Current WBO 154 pound title holder Demetrius Andrade (20-0, 13 KOs) could be making his first defense against the Austin, Texas native according to the former Olympian’s co-promoter, Artie Pellulo of Banner Promotions.
“Yesterday I left a message for 50 Cent, Kirkland’s promoter, and offered them the opportunity to face Demetrius Andrade for his WBO Junior Middleweight title,” insists the twenty-five year fight promoter. “Demetrius has to defend his title against the WBO’s mandatory challenger, but I believe I can make this voluntary defense against James Kirkland first.”
Boxing promoter/rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson intends to parlay the tremendous excitement from James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland’s awesome performance this past weekend into a memorable evening of entertaining boxing on Friday night, December 20 as his company, SMS Promotions, presents “Big Apple Boxing” at Resorts World Casino NYC in Jamaica, Queens, New York.
Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs), who is the most recent boxer signed by 50 Cent’s SMS Promotions, destroyed previously unbeaten and world-rated Glen “Jersey Boy” Tapia (20-1, 12 KOs), live on HBO last Saturday night from Atlantic City (NJ). Fighting for the first time since March 24, 2012, when he defeated current International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior middleweight champion Carlos Molina, Kirkland’s SMS Promotions debut stole the entire show in an thrilling, all-out war that mercifully ended in the sixth round as referee Steve Smoger halted the action with Kirkland unloaded powerful shots on an overmatched Tapia.