James Kirkland Says New Team Has Taken His Training To The Next Level

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Kirkland TrainingJames Kirkland(32-1, 28KO’s) is looking to rain on a lot of bonfires this weekend by upsetting the celebrated Mexican sensation Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez(44-1-1, 31KO’s) at the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.

The southpaw banger is jumping back in at the deep end after eighteen months on the sidelines but told Ringtv.craveonline.com that many observers are mistaken in their assumption that Alvarez should be the clear victor.

“The layoff has been the thing on people’s mind. If they say Kirkland’s fought two or three times this year, they wouldn’t have a doubt that I’m the better fighter. But since the layoff they say the activity of Alvarez that it’s pretty much an Alvarez fight.”

Canelo has fought Floyd Mayweather Jr, Alfredo Angulo(a common opponent between them) and Erislandy Lara in roughly the same time-span that Kirkland has spent out of the ring, going 2-1 after the loss to Mayweather. There can hardly be any doubt as to the benefit of taking on such assignments in place of inactivity.

Kirkland also went through his decision to once again drop long-time trainer Ann Wolfe in favour of a new, more extensive team to help him prepare for the biggest fight of his life.

“Like I always say Ann Wolfe, great trainer, I take nothing away from her. She has her own methods of boxing but there are certain things I felt I needed for this fight to take me to the next level to beat able to beat Canelo Alvarez.”

“One thing I can say is my training camp been sensational. I’ve taken it to the next level. I’ve just tightened up the things I lacked and didn’t really care about. I think I’ve made one of the best moves I’ve made. I’m training in San Antonio. I have Rick Marones, Gerald Tucker and Bay Bay McClinton in my corner.”

How fruitful his new set up will be we can only wait and see. He will be performing in a stadium with over 40,000 seats as the B-Side opponent for a slick, young, experienced fighter who can bang a bit as well. This is a high-pressure situation to be a part of and everything will need to go right on the night for him.

You have to imagine Kirkland’s strategy will be, as usual, to overwhelm Canelo with his ferocious brand of pressure, an approach that builds in intensity the longer it is allowed to burn. If his new team can galvanise him in a similar fashion that Wolfe was able to in the past, Canelo will be in for a long, hard night.