James Kirkland vs Carlos Molina.

jpab19 · Mar 22, 2012

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This intriguing light-middleweight 10-rounder is chief support to the Erik Morales-Danny Garica main event at Houston, Texas on Saturday night/Sunday morning in what is a ''semi-final eliminator'' for the WBC title(winner to fight Vanes Martirosyan).

It's a good clash of styles and is arguably(imo it is) a superior match-up to the bout it precedes. Obviously we have the reckless aggression of southpaw Kirkland, with his raw enthusiasm, power, and zero defensive responsibility making him a kill or be-killed type of dude. He rebounded from his upset loss to Nobuhiro ''Japanese Hearns'' Ishida with a trio of wins, the most recent of which being in a contender for last year's FOTY against the similarly mental Alfredo Angulo, who dropped him HEAVY in the first, only for the favour to be returned and then some as Kirkland proceeded to dominate him for the rest of the fight, stopping him in the sixth. Kirkland attributes his shaky return from the ring(forced upon him due to a prison term after a promising rise through the ranks) to no longer working with the terrifying Anne Wolfe, who returned to his corner following his one round demise at the hands of Ishida.

Molina's a far better fighter than his deceiving record of 19-4-2 suggests, if poor/debatable decisions had've went his way those numbers could easily alternatively read 23-2. He's currently on a 12 fight unbeaten streak since his last defeat - a deserved one to Mike Alvarado. Which is apparently one of only two fights that you can say with certainty that a loss was warranted in - the other coming in the fight before that against Wayland Willingham(I'm just going off people's word here though, I can't claim to have seen either this or the Jonathan Ochoa fight). His only other setbacks have come in three fights against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Erislandy Lara, who the vast majority would agree that he at least deserved to go 2-0-1(and I'm only saying that in case any of ESB's Cubans read this ) against as opposed to the 0-1-2 he had to take. In this dozen-bout run he's beaten the likes of Ed Paredes, Danny Perez, and most recently Kermit Cintron, which has established him as a top 154 pounder. He's more of a boxer to Kirkland's brawler, a good reader of range and adept at parrying and picking off opponent's punches with his gloves with a good counter left hook high and low to go with it.

So how do people see it going? It's clear who's going to be trying to do what, but who'll have success? Will Kirkland come up short again now that he isn't faced with someone as face-first as he is? Or will the ex-convict build on his win and take advantage of the fact that he will likely be far more relentless than anyone Carlos has come good against in his fruitful streak?

slip&counter · Mar 22, 2012

I got a feeling for Molina in this one.

TFFP · Mar 22, 2012

Depends on Kirkland IMO. If he's in the right shape and mindset he should win this. Maybe even by decision. Guys a complete loose cannon though so nothing would be a shock, especially given Molina is fundamentally pretty sound so if Kirkland is off kilter he'll take advantage. Intriging fight, plenty of good fights this weekend IMO with Judah/Paris and Garcia/Morales too.

sportofkings · Mar 22, 2012

slip&counter said: ↑

I got a feeling for Molina in this one.
Click to expand...

Same here, I think he will pull off a close win, possibly by SD.

TFFP · Mar 22, 2012

Might watch a bit of Molina though, unsure how good he is. Didn't catch a few of his fights.

JFT96 · Mar 22, 2012

I reserve the right to fully judge Kirkland as a fighter until I've seen him go a full 12 rounds with someone able to fight back and be undaunted by his power. And I think Molina could be that man.

If Kirkland really is going to get to the upper levels of world class, he's going to have to have prove how good his stamina is. There will be people who will take his early power and find a way back into the fight so if he has no plan B, he will get found out. The way the Angulo fight panned out, it turned into an all out slugfest- great to watch but a shame the action couldn't have gone on longer.

Molina will be a great litmus test for Kirkland and that's what makes it such an exciting fight. He'll absorb punches and is defensively quite good too so I'd expect him to find Kirkland with regularity given he's also a sharp puncher himself. At this moment, I have my doubts about Kirkland and I'd favour Molina to take him long in this one, either getting a points decision or possibly a late stoppage if he gets Kirkland to wilt significantly.

HOF · Mar 22, 2012

Kirkland brings excitement but a puncher with a decent defence should take him out as his previously exposed weaknesses still exist. Angulo is too fond of tequila and it showed. Hopefully someone will take Kirkland out brutally too after watching these - him and his mutant trainer are a complete and utter disgrace.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIo19sqqejI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIo19sqqejI[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqfOlItw0_4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqfOlItw0_4[/ame]

Bajingo · Mar 22, 2012

I'm tentatively picking Molina, but what concerns me is the size difference. Molina's really a welterweight and Kirkland a big light middleweight, who's aggressive and hits very hard. Molina's a far superior boxer though, it isn't close and if he doesn't get blown away should have enough to come back and outbox and and outwork a tiring Kirkland over the second half of the fight to take a close but clear points win.

Of course, Kirkland could also get chinned in the 1st knowing him.

roe · Mar 22, 2012

Molina decision for me. Not sure I rate Kirkland too much but as said he is bigger and Molina isn't brilliant either. It's a good fight though I wouldn't be too surprised either way.

modestbiggles · Mar 22, 2012

i've picked Kirkland by decision. not sure why. really could be any result though.

SportsLeader · Mar 22, 2012

I was going for Molina until recently, where I reckon Kirkland might be too strong for him. Molina is fundamentally great and can box well but he's not that mobile nor is he that physically strong. I think Kirkland might outwork him up close to a decision or even stop Molina.

qwert · Mar 22, 2012

I'm going for Kirkland by decision, more out of hope than expectation.

Awesome fight poster from HBO btw.

Vano-Irons · Mar 22, 2012

I was going to say call me crazy but I think Molina wins, but evidently so does everyone else

Molina knocks that arse out

BoxingAnalyst · Mar 22, 2012

Molina fairly wide on points.

Coq · Mar 22, 2012

Kirkland isn't great. He'll get beaten again.

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James Kirkland vs Carlos Molina.

jpab19 Exploding Muffin Dad Full Member

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