Quote Originally Posted by SlimTrae View Post
I'd imagine Ann Wolfe turn this fight off right at the 1st KD. @Spicoli. I agree with @powerpuncher on the mentality issue. How did he walk through Joel Julio who was still in contentions for a top spot. Known for KOs & couldn't really wobble James?





The James that got stopped this fight slumbers out of his corner. The James under Ann (Joel Julio) breaks out the corner.

The James in this fight allows distance. The James under Ann swarmed fighters & I think to his advantage wouldnt allow guys who needed to extend for maximums leverage

What I saw in that 1st round was a guy who looked like he has never stepped in the ring before. Just awful.
Don't get me wrong I'm not saying Kirkland didn't have a headful of cobwebs over career. We're pretty much all aware the sport is more mental than physical, again in the bigger picture. Part of those cobwebs probably lead to Wolfe leaving in the first place can't recall but we cannot deny that what we see today was the inevitable finish to what we saw early in Kirkland. No one expected him to come in v Montiel and be reborn and unbreakable.

A fighters flaws and vulnerabilities are an accumulative you cannot shake. It never stops. You just stack 'stuff'..age..damage..zero defense..concussions..years..onto your bowed back and it honestly wouldn't have mattered if it was Wolfe or Manny Steward sending him out now. We're just reached the inevitability of the guy we saw at the start. He's fought with his face for his entire career. Minds crack, so do chins and shaky rigged legs. Kirkland has always been 'hit ugly'. You see the physical reaction many times. Julio caught him flush and stood still with his very first uppercut. And honestly it wasn't like Julio was knocking out boogeymen save for maybe a K9 Bundrage and Vilches? Cortes stopped him dead in his tracks with a flush shot pre Julio. Jhon Berrio just 1 fight after Julio had Kirkland staggered badly with a right hand, legs locked up, standing stock still as I mentioned. It all collects with a single gear sponging style like that. Crazy thing is the first KD Montiel scored was a near replica of the short left cross Ishida timed him with.