Boone Kirkman: How good was he?

I’m not discouraging that! I like maybe even love Saddler he’s about the best if not the best at his weight. but in all fairness he’s a dirty octopus with an ugly style. Pep is pretty.

 

To borrow from Jake LaMotta in ‘Raging Bull’ after the Janiro fight, after Willie fought Sandy: ‘He ain’t pretty no more,’ haha.

Full disclosure: Saddler is one of my two or three most favorite fighters of all time, and sometimes he’s No. 1 (depends a bit on what I’ve been watching).

 

Had to take a road trip to get 6 rounds of sparring tonight. The gym that I went to is run by a good friend of mine and it is a shrine to Montana boxing history, but also the Pacific Northwest as a whole. I counted 6 fight posters for Boone Kirkman fights and I saw one for an Ibar Arrington fight.

 

Boone Kirkman: 'Ten Count' Record 1-3
vs Ranked Top Ten Opponents -(Ring Magazine.......Kirkman Ranked

11/18/70..........George Foreman ......# 3......KO by 2 ......# 10
12/12/73..........Jimmy Ellis .............# 9......W 10 ..........Unranked
06/25/74..........Ken Norton .............# 5......KO by 7.......# 10
09/17/74..........Ron Lyle .................# 4......KO by 8 ......Unranked

 

Bump

 

I think it’s an unfair assessment to say Boone was thrown to the wolves when matched with Foreman.

George was 23-0 with a couple of good wins. Boone was 22-1 or thereabouts with his one loss on cuts in a fight where he was pitching a shutout vs. Doug Jones and he avenged it immediately.

Foreman was, I’d argue, as much of a suspect as a prospect at that point. Yes he was powerful but also crude and people didn’t know that the likes of Joe Frazier and Ken Norton would later be steamrolled by him. The knock was that George was carefully matched and hadn’t yet proven that he’d become the real deal.

Kirkman wasn’t really undersized — there were a lot of guys between 200 and 210 in the ranks at that time — although he certainly wasn’t huge. Gregorio Peralta was under 200 and gave George a good go, so there was reason to believe Boone wasn’t just going to be fodder.

Knowing what we know now, sure, but matches in real time aren’t made with hindsight. It was a main event shot at MSG, the Mecca of boxing, against an up-and-coming Olympic champ who hadn’t yet shown himself to be the next big thing. Even a loss wasn’t going to derail Kirkman, so why not take your shot when it’s offered … how much longer was he going to stay on the Pacific Northwest circuit before stepping up to the podium to see if he could cut it in the big leagues?

 

Is the Foreman fight and the Cooney exhibition the only footage of Boone Kirkman? That’s all I can find out there and it bums me out.

 

Chuck, you got a Joe Hipp avatar and are interested about Kirkman. From what parts do you hail, sir?

 

Detective @Seamus is on the case, seeing clues and making connections!

 

These are regional heroes. When he starts threads on Greg Haugen/Al Holstak/Freddie Steele/John David Jackson then I'll have him zeroed in!

 

If you don't mind me asking how old are you?

 

Just past the half century mark.

 

If he brings up Pete Ranzany and Tony Lopez, you can start tracking him moving south on I-5, haha.

 

Born and raised in beautiful Washington State sir! Are you from my neck of the woods as well?

 

Me too 52 in October.