Boxing Needs James Kirkland, But Is He Ready?

Three words: aggression and vulnerability. Those ingredients sum up the appeal of junior middleweight James Kirkland (25-0, 22 KOs), whose career has been derailed for the past year after he was sentenced to 24 months in prison for parole violation.

Kirkland was becoming one of the hottest and feared young names in boxing. In April 2009, he walked through the heavy shots of power puncher Joel Julio and grinded him down to a stoppage. It was his first win over a bona fide contender and opened the door to fights with other division stars like Alfredo Angulo, Kermit Cintron and Paul Williams

But Kirkland was nabbed for gun possession, a violation of his 2003 conviction for armed robbery which at the time landed him in jail for 30 months. Although he claimed that the gun was for protection from being robbed himself, he clearly broke the law and was again in prison.

On September 17, Kirkland will be released and once again have the opportunity to get his life in order. At 26 years old, he’s now entering his prime as an athlete. Before his incarceration, Kirkland’s in-ring ferocity and black trunks caused many comparisons to a young Mike Tyson. At the time, Kirkland boldly claimed he had already surpassed Iron Mike’s skill level.

“Mike Tyson had some gifts, power, movement, some things he could do in the ring. But I’m better than Tyson. I can box, move, the whole nine yards,” Kirkland boasted in 2008. “My styles’ like his, I’m coming straight at you. But when I meet someone who can counter that style, I will still find a way to knock you out. Tyson was one-dimensional fighter. So when someone compares me to Tyson, I say ‘Thanks, but I’m better than him.'”

The similarities extend outside the ring. Tyson lost three years of his career to a rape conviction in the early 90s. Kirkland has already lost two years for crimes involving guns and robbery. In hindsight, many people point to Tyson mentor Cus D’Amato and other camp members as individuals who believed boxing was all that was needed to subdue Mike’s personal and mental issues. That decision only caused Tyson’s inner demons to fester and explod throughout in the 90s in various incidents. The problems also surfaced in the ring during the infamous ear-biting incident with Evander Holyfield in 1997.

Kirkland’s team appears to be taking the same approach. As soon as he’s released, he’ll go right back into training and be pushed into two fights before the year is out.

“He’ll go to the halfway house, but he’ll have the right to travel and the right to train and fight,” confirmed co-manager Cameron Dunkin with ESPN. “I’ve been talking with [matchmaker] Eric Gomez and [Golden Boy CEO] Richard Schaefer about when he’s going to fight. We think we can get him a fight in October and get him going.”

“It was wrong, what he did, and he had to pay for it,” Schaefer added. “Hopefully, now he will be able to resume his career and learn from what has happened.”

Only time will tell if indeed James Kirkland has learned from his past failures. But one thing is for sure; it will take  more than boxing itself to get him back on track. It has to be a personal desire to change and be better. Over these next few months, this challenge will be bigger than anything he’ll face in the ring.

And in that we have the ultimate irony of boxing. We expect our fighters to be savage and unmerciful in the ring. Outside it, we are shocked when that cruelty leaks over into their personal lives.

James Kirkland has the defensive liabilities of a Arturo Gatti combined with the offensive mentality of a Mike Tyson. It’s a recipe for excitement and thrills, a rollercoaster ride for everyone who watches Kirkland fight. But before we all get our boxing fix from him, let’s remember there is a person behind the pugilist. He deserves the courtesy of time get his personal life together before letting the fists fly.