James Kirkland is The Comeback Fighter of The Year in 2013
By Robert Brizel, Head RCM Boxing Correspondent
I hereby nominate James Kirkland for the Real Combat Media Boxing’s comeback fighter of the year in 2013 and he also won the award in 2011. Unlike professional baseball, to the best of my knowledge professional boxing has no such ‘comeback’ award.
There is sufficient justification to give James ‘Mandingo’ this unique distinction. After breaking camp with trainer Ann Wolfe, and getting dropped by former light middleweight champion Nobuhiro Ishida three times in the first round in April 2011, Kirkland was all but written off by boxing experts.
Kirkland returned to his magical team combination with Wolfe, and has won five straight bouts since then. He came off the canvas in the first round in Mexico to drop Alfredo Angulo in the same round, and later stop him in the sixth round in Angulo’s native Mexico. Kirkland then won a strange tenth round disqualification over Carlos Molina, who he dropped and whose corner entered the ring before the round had officially ended. Molina went on to win a share of the world light middleweight title, while Kirkland was mysteriously inactive for 21 months.
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Kirkland returned on December 7, 2013, stopping 20-0 Glen Tapia in the sixth round of a lopsided contest, marked by Mandingo landing an incredible 73 power shots on Tapia in the fourth round, the all-time 154 pound CompuBox record since such statistics have been held. Who’s next? Erislandy Lara, Canelo Alvarez, Austin Trout, Miguel Cotto, GGG, you name it, in 2014 the sky’s the limit for James ‘Mandingo’ Kirkland. So long as works with Ann Wolfe, we all know magical things will continue to happen for James Kirkland through his partnership with Wolfe, 50 Cent and SMS Promotions. Whatever Kirkland does, he should remain at 154 pounds, where his natural talent is verified and sure to be legendary-so long as he listens and keeps learning and growing as a fighter through what master trainer Anne Wolfe tells him to do.
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