By Luis Sandoval
On May 5th, junior middleweight contender James Kirkland (31-1, 27KOs)sat ringside at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and watched Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (40-0-1, 29KOs) retain his WBC title with a dominating twelve round unanimous decision over former three division world champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley.
Canelo is now being positioned to headline his own HBO pay-per-view on September 15, also from the MGM Grand. Kirkland is the current frontrunner to face him.
Kirkland is recovering from shoulder surgery, which he required for an injury suffered in the March disqualification win over Carlos Molina. He expects to be 100% by September, and told BoxingScene.com that he’s ready to challenge Canelo for the WBC title in the fall.
“He did a very, very beautiful job [against Mosley]. He came and put on a good show. He boxed, he was thinking, he threw combinations, he was smart. But I know one thing, when it comes to fighting a James Kirkland – what he brought to the table [against Mosley] – he’s got to put on a lot more [for me]. Because I’m strictly a 100% fighter. They just know what they are getting themselves into when they step in the ring with Kirkland,” Kirkland told BoxingScene.com.
