Kirkland arrested in hometown!

[Manuel "Chubby" Medina]

Kirkland arrested in hometown


By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
Archive
Junior middleweight contender James Kirkland, who is scheduled to fight Michael Walker in a 10-round bout May 2 on the Ricky Hatton-Manny Pacquiao HBO PPV card undercard in Las Vegas, was arrested on a weapons charge Sunday.
He was still in custody Monday afternoon.
Kirkland, 25, who is on probation for a 2003 armed robbery that cost him 2½ years of his career, was arrested during a traffic stop in his hometown of Austin, Texas, and booked Sunday afternoon. He was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, according to the Travis County Sherriff's Department Web site.
Whether Kirkland (25-0, 22 KOs) will be available to fight May 2 is unclear.
"It appears that James is the victim of circumstance and we're waiting for the facts to come in before we make any comment," Cameron Dunkin, Kirkland's co-manager, told ESPN.com.
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, who signed Kirkland in October and promoted his last two bouts, both of which were on HBO, has talked with Kirkland's attorney and co-manager Michael Miller and had no comment.
"I don't really know anything yet, so I really can't comment, but I'm looking into it," Schaefer said.
Kirkland has emerged as one of the most fearsome punchers in boxing and is on the fast track. After stopping Joel "Love Child" Julio in six rounds on March 7, he was quickly lined up for the May 2 fight which was to be followed with another HBO appearance in August. Schaefer has been trying to put together a title challenge for him against either Sergei Dzindziruk or Daniel Santos.

[Hunter]

Seriously though, I know he hasnt been proven guilty but why do these guys with so much promise (especially those getting a second chance like kirkland) continue to make bonehead decisions

They should throw the book at him.......He would have just gotten Ko'ed by Paul Williams anyway....Maybe this is his way of avoiding Williams......

[DaxxKahn]

Seriously though, I know he hasnt been proven guilty but why do these guys with so much promise (especially those getting a second chance like kirkland) continue to make bonehead decisions

They should throw the book at him.......He would have just gotten Ko'ed by Paul Williams anyway....Maybe this is his way of avoiding Williams......

Agreed he gets the book thrown ar him...Obviously he did not appreciate his second chance....Some people don't even get a first chance...

A bit harsh on the Avoiding Williams part but agree on the fact Paul would KO him....So would Santos and Dzindziruk at this stage

[TheDemolitionDan]

Dang, this sucks. Kirkland was somebody that was a future star and he could have been a great face for Boxing with his exciting style.

[LEGION]

He's been a favorite prospect of mine for a long while and this is just disappointing to put it mildly. I just don't get why he needs a gun when he rides around with Ann Wolfe everywhere; that woman would scare anyone A shame really and he could be in some hot water; here i Texas they don't play when it comes to carrying around firearms.

[BoomBoom]

Very bad news. maybe the judge will give him a break. I doubt it though cause it is a felony.I hope this didnt cost him his career.

[Scott22]

hopefully things work out for him

[Violent Demise]

Wow if this is true he's in BIG trouble!!!!! A felon with a firearm is a serious serious offence,usually carrying a mandatory sentence of years in jail,unless schaffer and oscar pay a witch doctor 2 bring johnnie cochran back from the dead this guy might be done,or at least lose the prime of his career,what an idiot ur a top contender put the fukkin gun down,and if the neighborhood u live in is that bad move tha fuk away,I believe oscar would have no problem re-locating one of his top prospects to a beautiful neighborhood

He'll be fine. His original offense is from 2003. That's 6 years he's been mostly trouble free. He's on the brink of Super Stardom. Oscar and Golden Boy have his back. Not to mention Texas has lax gun laws compared to other states. He'll be fine. He most likely get his probation reinstated. He might be pulled from the May 2 card. But that should be it

[Rantcatrat]

No excuse really for this. As a former felon with a sure-fire career in boxing ahead you,, you can't pack a gat.

Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation Boxing Blog

[ElTerribleMorales]

No excuse really for this. As a former felon with a sure-fire career in boxing ahead you,, you can't pack a gat.

Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation Boxing Blog

i agree, if he's innocent well hope he gets off fine, if he actually was carrying a gun, he should pay the price

[Spicoli]

What a dumb azz.Hes obviously not completely broken the cycle in past surroundings.Its all about 'convincing' the higher powers now and being 100 % compliant and crystal clean with authorities.Whatever comes out in the short term with violating terms of probation,I think he should sit it out.He'll get more scrutiny for the charge,rightfully so, than anything he can generate vs. Michael walker.

[XaduBoxer]

Well, prison is not a totally bad boxing training ground... Just ask B-Hop... j/k

Seriously, this is a real bad situation for Kirkland... He could end up 2 years in prison (minimum) for this kind of charge considering he's still on probation...
.

[markb018]

No sympathy for idiotic moves like this. He spends almost 3 years in prison before, you would think he would want to stay out. The guy is on probation, he is fucked. Probation is the second chance. Sorry to say but throw the book at him if he was carrying a gun.

[TeleTuff]

Kirkland deserves to do time!Probation aint no joke!simply put probation is the courts way of saying,look,...you1ve fuked up pretty good up to this point,but inspite of that we are going to give you one more chance,keep your nose clean.

Now you take Kirkland,who up until this point has not cashed any Mega Pay checks,but he`s been on HBO A couple of times and I`m sure he`s made some descent Money,not to mention his undefeated Future in Boxing,so instead of getting A nice car,and place to live,and enjoying life,while concentrateing on bright Boxing carear,he feel it`s necesary to tote around A firearm illedally while on probation,....Some would say,.."You can take the Man out of the Ghetto,but you cant take the Ghetto out of the Man".....Very dissapointing to say the least. Oh well Fuk him whatever he get`s he deserves.

[CutMeMick]

It seems at times as though some people just can't shake off the bad things.
I don't think he'll do time taking into consideration of his career (which believe me judges do and they'll see that he's going down a good path now. If anything they'll give him probation...