Ok, first off forgive the excessive word count of this post but it is actually a draft for a soon-to-be published 2-page article for a local, amateur sporting newspaper here in Caguas PR, where I live. Therefore, if you would like to give suggestions or compliments/reservations as pertains to my actual writing style (I study journalism and am an amateur boxer myself under Evangelista Cotto) please feel free to do so!! On the night of May 9-10, 2015, we had the pleasure of watching two no-nonsense gladiators give us boxing fans a TRUE treat of a fight. I was literally on the edge of my seat in the first half of the first round when it seemed that an ultra-aggressive James Kirkland was just a couple of solid flurries away from stopping an intimidated, bewildered Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in the corner. Initially, it seemed to me then that a clueless, lost Saul was simply overwhelmed by Kirkland's wild, ferocious assault (i'm sure lesser fighters would have been stopped in that corner) and I found myself telling my father, "He can't just take bombs in that corner from a guy like Kirkland like that. He has to counter or get the **** out of there!" Almost as if I communicated this to him telepathically, Canelo (who has VERY underrated power) started countering off the ropes with beautiful, thudding left hooks and uppercuts showing immense poise and maturity in the process. When the first couple landed, I literally got off my feet and stood up, because I was certain that, given Mandingo's abysmal chin, he was MOST CERTAINLY not going to be able to take even just a few of those without getting KTFO. Sure enough, soon Kirkland took a very ugly KD in round 1 and, once again, as in vs Conyers and Angulo, he was going to have to go life and death and to summon that indomitable will inside of him, that only Ann Wolfe has been able to do thus far, in order to persevere to victory. But not this night. . .Canelo is simply light-years ahead of Angulo and Conyers. The Mexican superstar suddenly unleashed his own beast upon a fatalistically brave and never-say-die but ultimately doomed Kirkland who, as he has always done, showed incredible heart simply surviving that nightmarish first round while always trying to established some sort of offense of his own in the process. The problem is that, unlike Kirkland's wild, undisciplined beast, the beast that lives inside Canelo is a well-schooled, technically proficient one that MAINTAINS THE ABILITY TO COUNTER VERY EFFECTIVELY whilst in the heat of a combo, something Kirkland cannot do. Round 2 saw a rejuvenated Kirkland, who has Marquez-like powers of recuperation in between rounds and after KDs, once again on the prowl and once again briefly giving Canelo something to think about, rocking him on numerous occasions. But, just as it seemed that Kirkland was on the verge of turning the fight back into his favor through sheer force of will and will alone once again, the thudding blows from Canelo started once again started landing with a scary, ominous regularity (I think he was landing close to 80% of the heavy artillery he was launching) and once again Kirkland was in the direst of straights as the round matured. Incredibly, the fight made it to round 3 where the Red-Headed Mexican landed an absolute monster of a right hook on a wobbly, unstable Kirkland desperately attempting to catch a final second wind. This was a bomb that would have given even the most wrought-iron of chins (looking at you Mr. Golovkin--you certainly won't be able shrug THAT right hand off and land your so own as you did so nonchalantly against Geale). Needless to say, china did indeed shatter and that wide, looping right hook mercifully put an end to Kirkland's incredibly gutsy effort in what is a solid candidate for KO of the Year, if not fight of the year (although Provo-Lucas takes that in my opinion). For a few moments, I feared for Kirkland's health after that brutal KO. This was a "Poor Man's Hagler-Hearns" (I mean this as a very high compliment, by the way), complete with the third round KO, only that, here, the boxer (Canelo) dismantled the Brawler (Kirkland), whereas in The Best Fight of The Modern Era, the Brawler (Hagler) simply roughed up and brutalized the Boxer (Hearns). Only imagine what Kirkland would be if he had a Marvelous Chin (no pun intended). He would be the legit heir to Mike Tyson if only nature had blessed him with a decent beard. Like hopelessly feather-fisted Paulie Malinaggi, who I tremendously admire for what he was able to do and achieve in the sport with his pillow-cushioned fists, Kirkland suffers from a fatal flaw: his chin actually makes Klitschko, Khan, and Cotto seem titanium-jawed. He must somehow learn to work around this fact-of-life for him by re-educating himself in the art of defense. Canelo showed that he is steadily evolving into a very disciplined boxer-puncher who has legit power at 154 lb. If GGG wants a REAL war, I would advise Mr. Golovkin to drop to JMW and give De la Hoya a call. Though I would slightly favor the Kazakh, Canelo is a LIVE LIVE DOG IN THIS one, esp at 154. In that fight, someone would certainly GKTFO and it would look alot like Rosado-GGG, except Rosado is several levels below Canelo. As for Kirkland, he has nothing to be ashamed of. His chin is what it is and he is going to have to learn to protect it with an effective bob-and weave style. He is also going to have to learn an effective high-guard Clottey/Abraham/Walters/Murray-style defense to block punches how you're supposed to: with your high-guard, not with your face. I think Teddy Atlas' knowledge of the Tysonesque style is actually a very good match for Kirkland. They should seek each other out. As for Wolfe, I don't see any reason why she can't stay on as part of his team as strength and conditioning coach and as a cornerwoman/chief 2nd. One thing for sure with Kirkland is: he remains a dangerous outing for anyone and you have to lay him out cold to finish him, very preferably early since he seems to grow in stamina and heart as the rounds pass. If YOU don't get HIM out of there, HE sure as hell will take YOU out--quite brutally and with a very adverse effect on your subsequent boxing career (looking at you Julio and Perro, two solid fighters both ruined by Kirkland), in fact. Carlos Molina's busted up, bloodied nose after that DQ fiasco is incontestable evidence that, even if getting schooled, the Mandingo Warrior WILL hurt you and WILL cause serious damage. Multiple KDs are no good against him because he just gets up and keeps coming (even in the Ishida fight, it was obvious that Kirkland was going to get up and continue fighting and he did, in fact, furiously protest the stoppage). If Kirkland can manage to avoid punchers and venues with the 3 Knock-down Rule from now on, I firmly believe that he still has a good career and several more solid wins ahead of him, maybe even a legit 154 lb belt or two at some point. Why not? After all, lesser men have held titles there (looking at you Smith, Spinks, Ouma and Bundrage). Thank you James and Saul for showing us what boxing is all about and for reminding us why we so love this sport. :happy:happy:happy Thank you both for squeezing in a hundred-fold more drama into your concise, violent firefight than that disgraceful 36 minute-long dissapointment we all had to recently endure was able to over the course of 12 yawn-inducing, timid rounds by two prima donnas too terrified to even consider thinking about just saying: **** IT ALL TO HELL! in order to just throw caution to the wind and let it all hang on the line. That was precisely what Pacman needed to do in order to yank victory from the jaws of defeat and a brutal, embarassing 12-round schooling (not a "timid", cautious schooling like the one he was content to deliver) was what May needed to truly cement his legacy in a dominant, career-defining win, rather than content himself with a close, but clear yet wholly uninspired, boring win, in a mega-fight in which he had every stylistic attribute needed to humiliate Pac, as he did with Marquez in 2009. However, I digress. . .one thing's for sure though, I will continue to tune in whenever and against whomever either Kirkland or Canelo fight in the future.
