
Originally Posted by
marbleheadmaui

Originally Posted by
ryanman
I almost could have but this in the thread about guys I wish I had seen more of but for me it would be Kirkland Laing.
So much talent, so many problems. What could he have done if he wanted the glory more than the drink? Unfortunately a really sad story has followed his retirement.
Care to fill that in a lttle? I don't know the story.
Sure. You mean what has happened since his retirement? I presume you do.
Well, to go back a bit first, after beating Duran in 1982 he went missing and only reappeared after blowing all his money on drink, drugs and women. He fought on for several years finally retiring in 1994(?) at 40 following a knockout loss to Glenn Catley.
By all accounts he then became more and more alcohol dependent with spells of homelessness. Steve Bunce made a documentary about him about 7 years ago and he looked in a really bad way and was homeless. Shortly afterwards he suffered a fall from a balcony and several spells in rehab for his alcoholism followed. Last I heard was that he was alive but not well. I hope things have improved for him since.
He had so much talent but his demons robbed him of the career (or he robbed himself) that he could have had. He was before my time really but I have always been really interested in his story probably because my dad (who wasn't particularly passionate about boxing) seemed like a boxing fanatic when talking about Kirkland.
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