Nobuhiro Ishida v James Kirkland
Courtesy of boxrec.com
At the start of 2011 American James Kirkland (27-0, 24) was seen as a superstar in the making. He was hard hitting, fun to watch, aggressive and had all the attributes of a pay-per-view star as well as a very interesting back story about turning his life around around several jail stints.
Kirkland had been in jail from April 2009 to September 2010 and had managed to score 2 stoppages on his return to the ring. Although he had looked a bit rusty in both of them he had looked like a fighter who was starting to find his destructive groove once again.
In his 3rd fight back after his prison stint Kirkland was matched with former WBA "interim" Light Middleweight champion Nobuhiro Ishida (22-6-2, 7) of Japan. Ishida was meant to be another fall guy for Kirkland, who was supposed too shake off any remaining ring rust and eventually stop Ishida.
Fighting outside of Japan for just the second time in his career (having lost to Rigoberto Alvarez, the olderer brother of Saul Alvarez, in Mexico 6 months earlier) Ishida was given no chance. The bookies had written him off and priced him around 35/2 (or +1750 for our American readers).
For some Ishida was taking part in a Kamikaze mission for others it was merely a case of a survival mission for the tall Japanese fighter who was given no chance by everybody who was somebody.
Kirkland had been in jail from April 2009 to September 2010 and had managed to score 2 stoppages on his return to the ring. Although he had looked a bit rusty in both of them he had looked like a fighter who was starting to find his destructive groove once again.
In his 3rd fight back after his prison stint Kirkland was matched with former WBA "interim" Light Middleweight champion Nobuhiro Ishida (22-6-2, 7) of Japan. Ishida was meant to be another fall guy for Kirkland, who was supposed too shake off any remaining ring rust and eventually stop Ishida.
Fighting outside of Japan for just the second time in his career (having lost to Rigoberto Alvarez, the olderer brother of Saul Alvarez, in Mexico 6 months earlier) Ishida was given no chance. The bookies had written him off and priced him around 35/2 (or +1750 for our American readers).
For some Ishida was taking part in a Kamikaze mission for others it was merely a case of a survival mission for the tall Japanese fighter who was given no chance by everybody who was somebody.
Come fight night Ishida had almost everything against him. He was 8 years older than Kirkland, he had a shorter reach (which was very surprising), he was fighting in the US in front of a pro-Kirkland crowd, he was lighter than Kirkland in the ring, his arsenal seemed to be a pea shooter on paper whilst Kirkland had a cannon and most tellingly all the officials (the referee and the 3 judges) were American.
With the deck stacked against him however Ishida knew that a victory over the rising American contender could put him in he line for some major pay days. It was a major gamble for sure, but one he, and his team, chose to take. When hall of famer ring announcer Michael Buffer introduced Ishida only his cornerman made any sort of noise (clapping for his man) whilst Kirkland got muted cheers from the crowd. The crowd almost seemed like they were to be turning up for a bout with a forgone conclusion, sentiments echoed by HBO commentator Max Kellerman, who described the bout as a "stay busy fight for Kirkland" and a "showcase fight, Kirkland's supposed to beat the hell out of him". With in 23 seconds of the fight Ishida had shocked everybody and landed a short, crisp left jab (incorrectly called a counter right hand by Jim Lampley) to the chin of Kirkland which forced the American's legs to buckle as he fell to canvas on all fours. Kirkland quickly recovered to his feet as Ishida celebrated the knockdown, though the American certainly looked hurt whilst he was being given the mandatory 8 count by Joe Cortez. Less than a minute after the knockdown Kirkland was again hurt as Ishida let his hands go and soon afterwards Kirkland was down again. We'd had only 63 seconds of the bout and Kirkland had been down twice and staggered badly by the Japanese "none puncher". Despite the second knockdown Kirkland again rose to his feet wanting to continue. Ishida knew the American was still hurt and rushed in looking for the finish before Kirkland managed to get his legs back. Kirkland tried to fight back but his shots lacked their usual ferocity and Ishida took them well as he landed a beautiful flurry of straight shots. Kirkland's knees buckled but he managed to remain on his feet, at least. After just 107 seconds Ishida managed to connect with a text book straight right hand counter which sent Kirkland on to the seat of his pants and down for the 3rd time in the bout. Although the 3-knockdown wasn't in effect Joe Cortez had seen enough and waved the bout off as Kirkland tried to get up. Several moments later Kirkland was still feeling the effects of the shots despite trying to make out he was still fine. The American commentators were very genuine with their shock though seemed to be less willing to to really give Ishida the credit for the victory and put it more down to Kirkland "looking bad". For everyone else however Ishida had been impressive and really had made a name for himself with one of the biggest upsets in recent memory. So big was the upset that Ring Magazine voted it the biggest upset of the year and both ESPN and Sports Illustrated (SI) did the same in their boxing awards. Notably this bout was just the second time a Japanese fighter had won the Ring Magazine upset of the year (the first had been Yasutsune Uehara in 1980 when he defeated Samuel Serrano) and just the 3rd time a Japanese fighter had been featured in the Ring Magazine upset of the year (with Hiroshi Kobayashi losing in 1971 to Alfredo Marcano). |
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Fact Box
Venue- MGM Grand, Las Vegas, USA Date- April 9th 2011 James Kirkland (27-0, 24) v Nobuhiro Ishida (22-6-2, 7) Referee- Joe Cortez Judges- Eric Cheek Tim Cheatham Glenn Trowbridge Outcome- Nobuhiro Ishida TKO1 Awards-Ring Magazine Upset of the year 2011 SI's Boxing Upset of the year 2011 ESPN's Boxing upset of the year 2011 The video below, thanks to JYRV1 shows the fight, in full, and includes introductions and post fight interviews (all from HBO). |
Following the bout Ishida would manage to fight in a string of really high profile bouts. Although he would suffer 3 losses in his following 4 bouts, they did see him share a ring with Paul Williams, Dmitry Pirog and Gennady Golovkin as he got 2 world title bouts back-to-back.
Now with a record of 24-9-2 (9) Ishida is expected to return to the ring in August to face a yet to be named opponent. This bout, scheduled to take place in Ishida's home of Osaka city just 2 weeks before his 38th birthday, could well end up being his last as a professional. For Kirkland things haven't really been great since the bout. He has won 4 straight bouts, including an absolute war with Alfredo Angulo and a highly controversial disqualification over Carlos Molina, though has also spent more than a year out of the ring with an injury which has again threatened to scupper his potentially exciting career. |