julio had a much better shot at beating kirkland by just putting everything on the line and stand in front of him and fire away,he spent so much energy trying to get away therefore he didn't have the power to hurt james,it would take a supreme boxer and condition to outbox a guy like kirkland, I told my son in the first round he's done (joel julio).....julio has the skills and the firepower to beat kirkland just used a terrible strategy.
I don't think it was about strategy, necessarily. Kirkland just bum-rushed him at the opening bell, and he was forced on his heels from the beginning. He was taking big shots and was uncomfortable from the get go. When he did land the occasional big shots on Kirkland, they didn't have any effect, and seemed to only make Kirkland fight harder. It wasn't really about strategy/tactics, it was about getting beat-up right from the beginning and never being able to recover or feeling comfortable enough to implement whatever strategy he had going in.
well it looked like their strategy was outbox him for 12 rounds picking shots,it wasn't working since round 1,guess what plan b, bang it out, throw combination, julio has power and kirkland was getting hit easy.
The fight would have been way better if Julio stood there and trade. Can't say about the outcome. But he would have had a better chance. Instead of backpedaling and getting tired.
Julio threw wide slow shots, while kirlands shots were fast and striaght, that being said Julio could have done better if he fought smart instead of scared.
really though i was pissed cuase if he would sat down on his punches he could of had a chance. kirkland is cool but his defence will hamper him in the long run. well rather lack of defence
didn't undertand it myself.....he was trying to box like Carlos Quintana in there.....that is not the type of fighter he is!
Strategy???? Hell no!!! I don't know if he has what it takes to beat Kirkland, but he lost that fight at the gym. I always said he doesn't belong at 154#. But last night he looked softer than ever. May be he got discouraged already. Came to the ring cold, not even sweating. He was slow, soft, tired by the third round. Kirkland doesn't have a great defense. But he has a hell of a physical condition and motivation. You need to be in your best shape if you want to fight that kid.
Or he could have got knocked out in the second round...The word going in was that Julio was a better techincal fighter, I think that after a one or so that was proven not to be the case. Julio fought the best fight that he could have fought, I think that him landing alot of big shots and not being able to even slow Kirkland or get him to take a backwards step show that he did fight a smart fight by tring to box...
It would have ended sooner if he stayed in front of him. At the beginning of every round Kirkland would just rush and he would already be on Julio. Julio had no shot of coming forward. He felt Kirklands power early and you could see he was ready to go
I have no idea what Julio's Plan A was, because I don't think we got to see any of it. He was forced into trying to potshot from the outside (he really flew after each good body shot, which would sure tire me out even more stretching the sides like that right after a thudding hook), then tried to trade which worked well until he went straight back during the 3rd, then potshot and hug which aggravated his eye even more. He landed a picture-perfect right with 45 seconds left in the 5th... finally got his range, bounced back, stepped in, planted his feet, turned his hip, and pulled the trigger just as Kirkland moved in... and nothing. Julio didn't seem capable of landing a punch that Kirkland didn't see coming and could adjust to. An uppercut to the heart could have worked well... or might have just opened him up to a counter left to the ear... That smack from Kirkland right as the ref said, "Let's go," had me rolling!
