{"id":353467,"date":"2011-03-31T15:10:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-31T15:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/03\/31\/kirkland-writes-his-own-redemption-tale-yahoo-sports\/"},"modified":"2011-03-31T15:10:00","modified_gmt":"2011-03-31T15:10:00","slug":"kirkland-writes-his-own-redemption-tale-yahoo-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/31\/kirkland-writes-his-own-redemption-tale-yahoo-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Kirkland writes his own redemption tale (Yahoo! Sports)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

LAS VEGAS \u2013 The crowd of reporters surrounding James Kirkland had thinned and the unbeaten super welterweight contender cast a gaze around the Pound-4-Pound boxing gym.<\/p>\n

Cameras and reporters were everywhere. Other fighters were using the exercise equipment or preparing to climb into the ring. Kirkland gazed left, then right, eyeballing the scene. A look of amazement creased his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cHard to believe it,\u201d he said, softly. \u201cHard to believe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

James Kirkland is rounding back into shape as he attempts to put the mistakes of his past behind him.
(Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

He\u2019s marveling at his fortune, at the dramatic upward turn in his life. Less than a year ago, Kirkland sat in an Austin, Texas, jail, his future as a professional boxer as questionable as his surroundings. He hoped he would box again, but he sure didn\u2019t know if he actually would get the chance.<\/p>\n

Now, he\u2019s 27-0 with 24 knockouts and is taught by one of the finest coaches in the sport. He\u2019s preparing to face a former world champion with the promise of big-money, high-profile fights sitting tantalizingly close.<\/p>\n

Kirkland has come to Las Vegas to find redemption, to salvage a career, to avoid the trouble that seemed to always find and, occasionally, engulf him.<\/p>\n

He spent his 27th birthday in this gym, located in a drab strip mall behind a KFC in the shadow of the famed Las Vegas Strip, dutifully preparing for an April 9 bout against Nobuhiro Ishida on an HBO Pay-Per-View card at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.<\/p>\n

To some, it seems odd that Kirkland fled trouble by moving to Vegas, America\u2019s Sin City, but those who think that way haven\u2019t seen where Kirkland is from and lived the zany life he\u2019s led.<\/p>\n

Kirkland was convicted of an armed robbery when he was 17 and served two-and-a-half years. Armed robbers aren\u2019t generally warm and cuddly personalities, certainly not the kind you want your daughter to bring home.<\/p>\n

After being paroled, as he was building himself into a promising boxer who looked like he might fight his way to a world championship, he violated terms of his probation by purchasing a gun. That landed him in jail for another two years.<\/p>\n

One would be right to conclude that\u2019s a person to avoid if that were all there was to the story. But listen to his co-manager, attorney Michael Miller, and the passion with which he speaks about Kirkland, and you get a sense that something is different about this kid.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nobody I have had (in boxing) who I have enjoyed more than James,\u201d Miller says.<\/p>\n

If you care to listen, Miller will tell you there\u2019s much more to James Kirkland than arrest records printed on a sheet of paper could ever say.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look beyond the surface, there is a lot more to the story,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThis isn\u2019t to excuse anything, but he\u2019s a kid who never knew his father and his mother was rarely involved in his life. It was really hit and miss with her. He was homeless when he was 14. He didn\u2019t have the same breaks or the same upbringing you and I did. The armed robbery? Do you really want to know what happened? He was trying to get money to buy food. He was in and out of a lot of houses. Different people would take him in and try to help him. He was a wayward kid back when he was 16 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s now a 27-year-old with a promising future and massive earning potential. He\u2019s hired former U.S. Olympic coach Kenny Adams, arguably the sport\u2019s finest teacher, to be his trainer.<\/p>\n

Adams discovered a raw, hard-nosed kid with fast hands and the power to knock out a horse. But Kirkland was so aggressive, so intent on ending every bout with the next punch, that he wound up and fired as if he were Andy Roddick in desperate need of an ace, putting extra juice on a serve.<\/p>\n

Adams set out to change that approach because Kirkland was often off-balance and out of position after he threw. Less talented fighters would succumb quickly, but Adams has been in the sport for decades and he knows the truly gifted boxers would use that aggressiveness against him.<\/p>\n

And, as Adams kept preaching to Kirkland early and often in the gym, he didn\u2019t really need<\/i> to wind up so much.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis kid, let me tell you, he can punch so (expletive) hard, he could knock guys out, cold, with a punch that goes just six, eight inches,\u201d Adams said. \u201cWhen he does the right technique, man, let me tell you, he can knock anybody out at any time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adams joined Kirkland\u2019s team in January, almost immediately after Kirkland\u2019s release from prison. This time, Kirkland had served about two years for violating his probation.<\/p>\n

The problem began when he was robbed in his hometown, in East Austin, Texas, and lost about $1,800. He was a high-profile figure who lived on the wrong side of the tracks and it was no secret that he was making big money. That, Miller said, made him a target, so, after being robbed, Kirkland wanted to buy a gun to protect himself.<\/p>\n

But, Miller said, Kirkland didn\u2019t want trouble. He wanted to do things the right way. Kirkland knew he was a felon, but wasn\u2019t sure if felony convictions and the baggage they carry go away after time.<\/p>\n

He went to a gun show in Austin, where there were Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents. He went to a counter and bought a Glock. He handed the person behind the counter his identification. The person tapped on the keyboard after looking at Kirkland\u2019s ID and completed the sale. Kirkland, Miller said, believed he had complied with the law and purchased the gun legally.<\/p>\n

He had not. The person never entered the information into the database. And when ATF agents began to follow him around the gun show, Kirkland became fearful and he ran.<\/p>\n

Mistake.<\/p>\n

Big, big mistake.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said to him, \u2018James, you hadn\u2019t done anything wrong. Why did you run and not stop and explain what had happened to the police?\u2019 \u201d Miller said. \u201cIt\u2019s that whole cultural thing, afraid of the cops and believing he was going to be targeted.\u201d<\/p>\n

He faced a maximum sentence of 120 months, but U.S. District Judge James Nowlin took pity on him and sentenced him to just 24 months, six of which could be spent in a halfway house.<\/p>\n

Kirkland got out in January and immediately left Austin for Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just needed to get somewhere where it was just about boxing and nothing else,\u201d Kirkland said. \u201cI have a great opportunity now and I want to take full advantage of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He fought March 5 in Anaheim, Calif., and March 18 in Costa Mesa, Calif., winning by first- and second-round knockouts, respectively. He\u2019ll fight Ishida next week and could move into a title shot by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s never followed the sport carefully and has been so immersed in his work with Adams that he\u2019s not even sure who he\u2019s sharing the bill with on April 9. Asked who would win the main event between Erik Morales and Marcos Maidana, Kirkland shrugged.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t even know who those guys are,\u201d he said, as Maidana sat on the ring apron a few feet away doing interviews.<\/p>\n

But he is convinced that, finally, the good times are ahead. The trouble is in his past forever, he vows.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, for sure, most definitely,\u201d he says. \u201cIf there is one thing I can promise you 100 percent, it\u2019s that there are going to be no more mistakes or slipups.\u201d<\/p>\n

Things are coming together in the ring. Big fights loom, though he\u2019s not sure who those bouts may be against.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t watch boxing at all,\u201d Kirkland said, beaming. \u201cI don\u2019t know who is champion. I don\u2019t know who is going to be champion. I have no idea about boxing whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Give him a few more months under Adams and a few more fights, and this much you can be certain of: By the end of the year, Kirkland is going to know one guy who is a future champion.<\/p>\n

Because as hard as he hits and as much as he\u2019s improving technically by working with Adams, it might be a bigger upset than VCU over Kansas if Kirkland doesn\u2019t have a title belt around his waist by year\u2019s end.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Continued here:
\nKirkland writes his own redemption tale (Yahoo! Sports)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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