Kirkland savages Julio in brutal contest

In a battle of young contenders, James Kirkland scored an impressive 6^th round stoppage win over Joel Julio at The Tank, San Jose, California on Saturday night, televised on HBO. Many people were looking forward to this fight because of the potential fireworks this match-up provided. Julio and Kirkland have scored nearly all of their wins via the KO route so this fight was sure to be a thrilling battle between dangerous gun slingers.  

And although it was one sided in Kirkland’s favor, it was exciting because Julio landed heavy bombs in between Kirkland’s brutal pressure.  Kirkland promised he was going to come out and bang right from the get go and he certainly delivered. Kirkland opened the first round as if Julio wasn’t even there and just stepped to him with his hands in motion. The difference in strength was evident in the bouts opening moments and it appeared that Julio’s only shot was to catch Kirkland perfectly with one of his right hand missiles.

But Kirkland’s brutal pressure and solid beard basically defused Julio of any chance to win. Julio landed plenty of heavy shots that would have rendered lesser men horizontal but Kirkland merely shrugged everything off that Julio threw and kept applying that energy sapping pressure. Julio figured out early that he couldn’t stand and fight with Kirkland so in between his own punches, he was in retreat. Julio basically back pedaled and tried to walk Kirkland into a bomb.

And he was able to do that more than several times in the fight but it didn’t matter. Julio’s legs were fading fast as Kirkland sunk heavy leather into Julio’s body. Julio tried to hold every time they got close but Kirkland would punish him with short hooks and then walk him to the ropes they were separated. It was shocking to see stalking bomber Julio being manhandled with such aplomb by Kirkland.  

It was as if Julio couldn’t believe it himself. I think he thought that all he had to do was land a bomb on the hittable Kirkland and then he could get him out of there. But he was in for rude awakening as he was thoroughly tenderized in the fight.  Every round was nearly the same with Kirkland landing a heavy jab and relentlessly pounding Julio any where he could.

Julio had flashes of success in several of the rounds but he couldn’t land anything that changed the tide of the fight. It seemed like every time Julio landed some good right hands, he appeared more fatigued. And Kirkland would take his turn and continue to brutally break Julio down.

Finally at the end of the 6^th round Kirkland landed a combination that culminated with a left cross that had Julio wavering in the wind. The bell rang and Julio walked back to his corner seemingly on a potholed road – translation, he was all done, put a fork in him. Julio ceded in his corner giving Kirkland the biggest win of his career. It was the right move because I believe he would have ended up on his back in the next round.

For Kirkland, this was a huge win. Even though he was a 3-1 favorite, many insiders believed Julio to be the more seasoned guy and that his power would seal Kirkland’s fate because he does get caught while coming in. ( I had Kirkland by KO winner) But Kirkland is far from the limited brawler that many had tagged on him.

In fact, he’s got a solid skill set and his punches are technically sound. And I think his defense looked good at times in the fight. Many times Kirkland saw what Julio was going to do and ducked or slipped many power punches from the Colombian. Yes, he got caught with some but he has good reflexes and used them a lot in the fight.

But what makes Kirkland such a beast is his physical strength, conditioning and amazing sense of purpose he has in his fights. He is prepared to go to hell in every fight but usually just makes his opponents feel like they are in hell. And Kirkland seems to be gelling very well with his chief second Anne Wolfe.

Wolfe is a former female world champion and she is as hard core as they come. She puts Kirkland through brutal training regimens for his fights with the attitude that ‘if it doesn’t kill you it will make you stronger.’  And it seems to be working. I have no doubt that compared to what Kirkland does in training, his fights are a breeze. I guarantee Julio, although probably well trained, didn’t go through as nearly a grueling training camp as Kirkland did.

And Kirkland’s training shows in his physical appearance and his attitude in the ring. Kirkland’s head looks like a pit bull’s, too big for his body, nestled on neck of thick muscle that meets a set a traps carved out of marble. In Kirkland’s post fight interview I noticed that his chest was vascular almost like a thoroughbred race horse and when he raised his arms overhead, the inside of his arms were loaded with tributaries of squiggly veins. In other words, he looked like he was in ultimate physical condition. But his skin looked healthy and he clearly wasn’t drawn.

With this win, Kirkland is right in the mix with the top Jr. Middleweights in the world. And the division is stacked with very good talent. You have much avoided 6’3 ostrich Paul Williams, classy southpaws Daniel Santos,Sergio Martinez and Sergiy Dzinziruk, aged but still useful title holder Vernon Forrest and fellow bruiser and heart taker Alfredo Angulo. All these matches would be excellent for Kirkland but the one everyone would love to see is against Angulo.

But I think it would better if they can each gain a title before they mix it up and should also make it as good a payday as they can be because it is the type of match-up that one or both men may never be the same after it’s over. I’ve gone back and forth on who I think will win that potentially amazing fight and it’s still a tough call for me.

Anyway, Kirkland is a guy that can be a major boost to boxing because of his pure gladiator style. Kirkland is reminiscent to the 19 and 20 year old Mike Tyson in his method of mayhem and the effectiveness he has shown. But I do think Kirkland is mentally stronger than Tyson and I don’t anticipate him looking for shortcuts in his training or running out of gas late in a fight.  

The difference between  Tyson and Kirkland is that Kirkland relishes the war while Tyson wanted to score the quick KO to get out of the ring as fast as he could.  In other words, Kirkland fights with a fury while Tyson fought in fear. And Kirkland doesn’t have the one punch power Tyson had so he is usually forced to fight hard for as may rounds as it takes to get it done  – and he’s more than OK with that.