What can you tell me about this guy? He beat some pretty fair heavyweights and lost to the elites. The Memphis Al Jones loss certainly stands out and relegated him to "opponent to the stars" status. Before that, Foreman aside he seems to have been making a pretty good name for himself and was a guy on the rise. He avenged a defeat to Doug Jones when that meant something, and collected a few other meaningful scalps. Oddly, he came back after a couple years off to roll of four wins including three over past-it names like Stander, Agosto and Jose Roman. You'd think there would have been at least a payday at the end of that rainbow, or a final chance for a shot at the big-time, but he apparently retired. I'm wondering about his style, strengths, weaknesses. Seems to have been a stand-up fighter who was just a cut below the top. Seen his name but never really heard anything about him.
He was considered a big prospect at the time. I think he might've even made the cover of The Ring. Was kind of insulting that he was chosen to be part of the Toronto Five against Foreman, but if I recall correctly, he handled himself well. Probably a decent fighter just unable to survive in the golden age.
He was from the Northwest USA A B+ type heavyweight. I saw him fight on TV one time with Archie Moore as a commentator, and knocked his opponent out.
I recall either Ring or Boxing Illustrated featuring an article entitled "Boone Kirkman - a cross between Billy Conn and Max Schmeling?" I also believe he was managed by Jack Hurley, an old-time manager known more for hype than substance. Hurley had also managed Harry Matthews and touted him as the next champion until Marciano KO'd him in 2. Coincidentally, Forman took Kirkman out in 2, after shoving him to the canvas in the first 15 seconds of the bout. Reportedly Hurley dropped Kirkman like the proverbial hot potato after the Foreman debacle. In fairness to Kirkman, he deserved better. He had been a prospect on the rise, but clearly the Foreman match was a bad one for him and he never really came back to become a top contender. His first loss was to veteran Doug Jones when the bout (which he had been winning) was stopped due to a cut eye. He avenged that defeat soon afterward, stopping Jones. I recall watching him in the Toronto circus. He was knocked down once or twice but got up and finished his allotted 3 rounds on his feet. I remember Ali yelling "C'mon, Boone!" from ringside as he heckled Foreman throughout. Actually Kirkman did better against George in Toronto than he did in the 1970 bout in New York. Never heard much of him after that.
Kirkman got a lot of hype, but he was very slow and methodical. He almost looked muscle-bound, in terms of how he fought. The upside to Kirkman is that he was physically strong, and could take a punch. Maybe Kirkman's biggest win was his decision over Jimmy Ellis in 1974. At the time, Ellis was on the downside, but still regarded as a borderline top-10 fighter. After the fight, Ellis remarked that he was surprised at Kirkman's strength.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eqheY6fF3g"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eqheY6fF3g[/ame] actually love the foreman polite exhibition. it's hilarious [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M-GfH3hDHY&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M-GfH3hDHY&feature=related[/ame]
Kirkman was about a step above a club fighter. He was very popular in the northwest because of his crowd pleasing style. He was aggressive but slow and lacked polish and it showed in a lot of his fights. He was also a bit fragile, suffering a lot of injuries. This comment: "He avenged a defeat to Doug Jones when hat meant something" completely ignores the fact that he was knocked out by and avenged that KO against Doug Jones in Jones two last fights when he was long considered a spent bullet. Jimmy Ellis likewise was nowhere near the top ten when Boone narrowly outpointed him. Even in defeat Ellis made Boone do a wicked drunk dance in knocking him down. In fact all of Kirkmans big wins came when the opponent was past his prime or on a losing streak. Kirkmans greatest asset was his wily manager Jack Hurley, who knew exactly how to bring a guy up through the ranks by beating "name" fighters who posed the least amount of resistence and garnering headlines. In short Boone was a good, honest, but limited guy.
Boone was a great draw in Seattle during his peak years with many crowds in excess of 10,000 regularly. Hurley could have marketed Kirkman to a huge title fight there as he did with Pete Rademacher vs Floyd Patterson in 1956 at Sick's Stadium (watched by 36,000 fans) but for some reason Jack threw "Boom Boom" to the wolves against George Foreman. Kirkman was credible but limited and was exposed by Foreman, Ken Norton and Ron Lyle.
