Juan Macias Montiel banishes James Kirkland from boxing with round 1 KO

It wasn’t close between Juan Macias Montiel and James Kirkland. Montiel put a hurting on Kirkland with three knockdowns in the first round to finish the fight. 

James Kirkland will go down in boxing history as one of those sad stories of unfulfilled potential. Juan Macias Montiel made sure of that with an exclamation point by blasting Kirkland out in round 1 of their Saturday, Dec. 26 bout.

Kirkland (34-3, 30 KOs) had a tumultuous 19-year career that fell well short of initial expectations. He debuted in 2001 as a welterweight at 17 years old. Kirkland won his first 11 bouts before serving 30 months in prison for armed robbery.

Kirkland’s recurring legal troubles negatively impacted his boxing career. He lost more time in 2009 after a gun charge.

Kirkland was a ferocious knockout punching southpaw that excited in the ring, but he lacked an elite boxer’s polish. Nobuhiro Ishida knocked him out in 2011 and Canelo Alvarez put him out cold in 2015.

After the loss to Alvarez, Kirkland disappeared from the boxing scene. He didn’t fight again until 2019. He recently told PBC that his delayed return to boxing was due to working on his private businesses.

James Kirkland looked long past his prime in his devastating loss to Juan Macias Montiel

Before his fight with Montiel, Kirkland had a two-fight winning streak. He won his last two fights by knockout, but Kirkland looked badly faded against Montiel.

To start round 1, Kirkland threw a few punches, but his hands looked slow. It didn’t take long before Montiel caught him with a left hook to drop him for the first time.

Kirkland got to his feet but hit the canvas after taking two right hands from Montiel (22-4-2, 22 KOs). He again got to his feet but looked weary and out of sorts. Montiel closed in and delivered a lead left uppercut that stunned Kirkland. Montiel hit Kirkland with a right hand that put him down for the third time of round 1.

The referee saw enough and called an end to the fight awarding a round 1 KO to Montiel at the official time of 1:56.

https://twitter.com/premierboxing/status/1343013777839542273?s=20

It was improbable that Kirkland would mount a boxing comeback at 36 years old, but a round 1 waxing by Montiel wasn’t the predictable outcome. Kirkland flashed talent throughout his career, but his problems out of the ring and within himself held back his progress.

It was a good win for Montiel but a sad end to Kirkland’s career. Hopefully, Kirkland sees that it’s the end of the road. Trying to fight on would make a sad story tragic.