couple of things Ishida had incredibly fast hands and matched with the straightness of his punching was too much for Kirkland who was slow, one handed and I guess without Ann Wolf not as prepared maybe fighting such a rigorous schedule was not a good idea
I think there was some preparation problem because his chin was ok against the power punching Julio. In the same time Kirkland has been hurt before that way I was always favoring Angulo in a future match up
Mate afterwards you can here him ask someone how many times he was knocked down, and he says "3 times ???" with a shocked look on his face, like i said in the previous post that is not a good sign if he does not even know he was down
get back with Wolfe asap...he didnt look right in there, and I can't quite say what it was, he almost looked scared
Just watched it, unless there was a three knockdown rule, that was a bad stoppage IMO. This is boxing.... you give the damn fighter a chance to beat the count.... Kirkland was being dropped but seriously, he wasnt convulsing all over the place like montiel or in a coma like williams.... Cortez the joke literally got in the way of Kirkland getting back up. That is bull****. Its different if it was in the 10th round after Kirkland had been taking loads of punishment, but it was the first damn round, sometimes fighters get cought cold, and it takes awhile for them to find their legs after getting clocked. Kirkland is the type of fighter who WILL get knocked down, and will get back up to continue to put on the hurt. He could very well have gotten back up, survived the round, and went on to make it a fight. Or... he could have been layed out again, but at least eather way it would have been a lot more decisive then Cortez not even letting him up or giving him a damn count. Not taking anything away from Ishida, very nice job... seemingly smart fighter, and has nice dimensions for the weightclass.... will be interested in seeing how he performs in his next fight (hopefully against a name) and props for the big upset. But I do think you dont just push a fighter down and not let him get up.... in the first damn round. Just Imo... Anyways, props to the Japanese warrior... awesome upset. Also, Kirkland kinda looked weird in there, not just fighting but even kinda prefight, idk maybe its just me. I dont think he looked quite as bad as people are saying, I was expecting him to look like complete crap but he looked more or less the same to me, just a bit off probably due to how long hes been gone, which is perfectly understandable. As for his chin, Kirkland has always had a shaky beard, imo... but hes the type of guy that can get knocked down throughout the fight and still wear you down and win. Hes the type of fighter that will be hurt, and hurt often, but can also finish you the same round you drop him. If I was Kirkland I would really go for the rematch....
you're right Kirk. It's good that Cortez is inconsistent cause we might have been robbed of one of one of the most epic battles of the last decade if he had made that mistake in Pac vs JMM. I'm not saying Kirland would have done anything like that, or that Ishida doesn't deserve credit... but give Kirland a ****in chance. Stopping it like that takes away from both fighters.
Kirk, I agree.. should that have stopped JMM/Pac because JMM didn't have a chance? We know how that played out. Kirkland, in all honesty never looked "hurt".. he kept getting KD, but he didn't seem "hurt".. strange fight.. Kirkland looked really out of shape, slow, and plodding. He looked really bad, not sure exactly why.
Bogus stoppage. The man was on his way back up. Yes, he was getting his ass kicked but Cortez should have seen if he could have made it to the bell, clear the cobwebs and regroup.
True, but in all honesty Mali, I am not sure he will ever find that form again (but yes, maybe he can and will) but even at his peak, best form, I still am not quite sure he is a world class, champion level fighter. Not saying he cant pick up a trinket, but as for being the real champ of a division, at 154, I dont quite see it. And believe me, that is not me knocking on Kirkland, he is one of my fav fighters.... but its just me being real on my opinion on him. Its more then just this fight.... Ive really sat down and watched Kirkland, and while I love his ferocity (the focused rage he brings almost reminds me of a prime fernando vargas (rage... not skills lol) And I love that 'kill you' style he has.... love it. But.... he is relatively uncoordinated, he leaves himself amazingly open to counter punches, his D is often non existent, and while that would be ok if he had an iron chin to continue his onsloughts while absorbing everything his opponent throws..... he doesnt. I think he will turn out somewhat like Miranda (another fav of mine).... a fun fighter to watch who will win impressively against peers and those below him, but when fighting higher level guys will be thouroughly defeated. That being said, I hope youre right man. I hope Kirkland proves me wrong and comes back with a vengeance. He has shown the ability to fight at a high level (against Julio) where he had everything tightened a lot better, to the point where I could see him being effective against elite opposition.... but he would have to improve even on that performence, imo. But, he is young, and he has the fire, lets hope he bounces back. And just for the record, I am still a Kirkland fan, Ill be supporting him, watching, and rooting for him.... he is a fun fighter that will be dangerous to most fighters and will make for some awesome fights down the future.