Isn't there a silver lining to Kirkland and Lemiuex being knocked out?
Dan Rafael from ESPN (among others) said that Kirkland and Lemiuex may never be factors again in Boxing. I think this is very harsh, especially considering the likes of Wlad Klitschko and Amir Khan both coming back from much more brutal knockouts early in their careers.
They are both young fighters, and losses like these will make them realize their weakness and work on it, so they will become better fighters in the long term. Better something like this happen to them while they are young and can have lots of time to improve, rather then if they got older, continued to win, and then were exposed with less time in their careers to get better.
Do you agree? Or have you come to the conclusion that both will probably never be much of a factor again?
@Seabiscuit: I agree, nice post.
@Richard: No doubt man, you’re totally right. Lemieux can’t run through guys just because of his power. It kind of reminds me of Kermit Cintron when he fought Margarito both
I only saw Kirkland’s and I don’t think he took a career damaging KO, he was able to get up 3 times, it’s just that his eyes were a little glossy. Time will tell if he has a glass jaw or not, but I think he if he has any type of dedication than he can come back. Sometimes you need that lost to help you improve and it could end up a blessing for him. He had to of learned that he needs to respect his opponents more and not try to run through them.
Seabiscuit | Apr 13, 2011
Couldnt agree with you more, I think in both cases both boxers have been protected slightly to try and build up their star status but overlooking their overall progression as a result.Lemiuex was never going to just turn up and KO all the top stars once he got to that level, this will have taught him lesons regarding stamina and not leaving himself open,he needs to learn to win a fight on points if need be and not just recklessly go after the KO.
Kirkland must have learned that he
Richard | Apr 13, 2011
Both of them are young. They have long ways to go. A knock out loss doesn’t guarantee you are washed up. In fact some of the greatest fighters in the world became better after a knock out loss.
Cathee | Apr 14, 2011
Rafael, who was critical of the Youtube boxing community and many others who were not him, is being needlessly harsh. He sounds like these casual fans who don’t follow the sport much.
Lemieux, for all his power, has very little experience doing much of anything other than just walking in and trying to fire his punches through people. It would work like a charm against the lesser-tier opponents that were feeding him at this stage, but against a real, experienced professional like Marco
Jose Martinez | Apr 14, 2011
Lemiuex got tired while that black boy James Kirkland just do not know what the hell to do when he is getting attacked!
Bailey | Apr 14, 2011
I think the lineage will be a great factor for deciding if a boxer can still push through with his career. For Lemieux since he’s from white American descent the chance of coming back successfully is very high, whereas Kirkland a black American may experience a lot more hilarious knockouts from feather-fisted fighters. You know the trend mate – it only takes one punch, same is true with Jacobs and Williams, have they come back recently? I guess not.
Fred C | Apr 14, 2011
I think people read way too much into losses these days.They are very few fighters at the top of their game who are still undefeated.With the exception of Mayweather and Jon Jones from the UFC just about every fighter has suffered losses at some point of his career.Just about every top fighter in MMA has losses.Manny Pacquiao even suffered a couple of embarrassing defeats then came back and then lost again to Morales but look where he is now.Look where Amir Khan is now after his KO loss to Prescott
Pretty Boy Floyd | Apr 14, 2011
^ I see some great points from Pretty Boy but slow down mate. Let me correct you on a few points.
- Jon Jones isn’t undefeated. He has 1 loss. Though I see your point since his loss was technically a DQ loss. I though he was handily winning that fight.
- Pacquiao-Morales 1 was a close but clear win for Morales. All judges had scores of 115-113, 7 rounds to 5 in favor of Morales. That’s as close as it can get as far as clear wins are concerned. Saying "he wasn’t able to
[Absolute] Truth X | Apr 14, 2011
As a fighter I could care less about a fighter getting beat that is part of the game. The problem now days we have a small group of people who put everything on a perfect record including some of the media and promoters. The promoters know that undefeated records sell better than a guy with a couple of losses. The two fighters you mention were never going to be anything. I have only seen Lemiuex fight once and I was not impressed as far as Kirkland he is just a tough kid who does not know how to
Flash KnoDown | Apr 14, 2011
April 17, 2011 at 5:56 am