James Kirkland (Boxer)
James Derick Kirkland ( born March 19, 1984 in Austin, Texas) is an American professional boxer in the Light Middleweight. Since the age of nine, he is coached by former world boxing champion Ann Wolfe of which are also from Austin, Texas, is derived.
Amateur career
Kirkland boxing since the age of six and won 134 of 146 fights as an amateur. He is a four time winner of the Youth Silver Gloves tournament and took already over 17 years in the elite class (adults ) to the National Golden Gloves in 2001 in Reno in part; there he reached with wins against William Johnson, Steven Ham, Shamone Alvarez and Jose Moreno the finals where he was defeated by James Parison controversial and thus won the silver medal in the welterweight division.
For financial reasons, he moved yet turned professional in 2001.
Professional career
Kirkland made his professional debut on 25 August 2001 in San Antonio with a TKO victory in the third round against Maurice Chalmers from Virginia, who also made his pro debut. Even in his next ten fights he remained undefeated, taking eight times by Ko won. He boxed inter alia in Las Vegas and Washington, DC.
The end of 2003 was the first time his career cut short when he found an armed robbery guilty, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment and a subsequent six-month house arrest. His comeback he denied therefore only in April 2006 in South Carolina with a TKO victory in the third round against Manny Castillo ( 13 wins - 11 losses).
Then he was able to celebrate nine more wins, including eight by knockout. He continued to defend yourself against Alexis Divison ( 16-4 ), Sherwin Davis ( 18-3 ), world title challenger Billy Lyell ( 14-3 ), Ossie Duran ( 24-5 ) and Mohamad Said ( 23-5 ) by. Only against Duran, he had to go the full number of rounds, had his opponent, however. During the first round at the bottom
On 17 May 2008, he boxed in Primm at the North American Championship and won the WBO this after only one minute and six seconds by TKO in the first round against Eromosele Albert ( 21-1 ). Already in his next fight on September 5, 2008 in Austin, he defeated the Mexicans Ricardo Cortés ( 22-2 ) by TKO in the second round. On 22 November 2008, he met in Las Vegas to Brian Vera ( 16-1 ) had this three times on the ground, winning by TKO in the eighth round.
On March 7, 2009, he defeated the San Jose, California Colombian Joel Julio ( 34-2 ) by TKO in the sixth round. After that fight, he was led by the WBA No. 1 by the WBO and No. 3 on their world rankings.
On April 19, 2009 Kirkland was again arrested when he was found at a traffic stop with a firearm, and thus violated his parole. He was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, but was released on 30 September 2010. He then defeated two opponents within two weeks ahead of schedule and already increased on April 9, 2011 in Las Vegas back in the ring. He was a complete surprise by the Japanese underdog Nobuhiro Ishida knocked down ( 22-6 ) in the first round three times; the referee stopped the fight then after less than two minutes of the first round, declaring the winner by TKO Ishida
Kirkland won his next two fights within two rounds, after which he qualified for a title fight. On November 5, 2011, he defeated the Mexican Alfredo Angulo (20-1 ) in Cancún, Mexico by TKO in the sixth round and became Continental -American title holder of the WBC. In March 2012, he defended the title in Houston against Carlos Molina ( 19-4 ). In the tenth round Molina went to the ground and was then disqualified because one of his handlers even entered the ring during the stall count.
Kirkland only returned after 20 months return to the ring and defeated it in 2013 Glen Tapia ( 20-0 ) by TKO in the sixth round.
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Kirkland was initially at Duva Boxing, later Golden Boy Promotions of Oscar de la Hoya and currently in SMS promotions from Curtis Jackson under contract.
Before his fight against Ishida, he had separated from Ann Wolfe and instead trained under Kenny Adams. After the bitter TKO loss to Ishida, he returned to Wolfe.