By Jason Pribila: A quick Google search for the definition of the word “knockout” perfectly illustrated what fight fans witnessed at Minute Maid Park in Houston, USA on the evening of May 9.
Noun: “an act of knocking someone out, especially in boxing”. A straight right hand that landed flush on James Kirkland’s jaw was the final act of a nearly nine minute virtuoso performance by Canelo Alvarez.
Informal: “an extremely attractive or impressive person or thing”. The crowd of over 31,500 people who filled the home of MLB’s Houston Astros were not all men. Proving once again that Canelo possesses the movie star looks that have aided him in slowly becoming the cross-over star like the man whose silhouette is present on the banner he fights under, Oscar De La Hoya.
The knockout of Kirkland would lead to an even more impressive performance on November 21, when Canelo became the lineal middleweight champion by defeating Miguel Cotto.
This time of year many boxing scribes look back at their notes in order for them to salute the best performances of the previous 12 months. At the risk of offending Floyd Mayweather, the most chilling and memorable highlights of a given year are when “fighter A” separates “Fighter B” from his or her senses. A fight ending in a knockout eliminates excuses, the risk of questionable scorecards, and lawsuits from disgruntled fans who feel as if they were hoodwinked into paying for something that was not delivered.
The Canelo knockout of Kirkland would stand-out in any year. However, because of when it took place, it provided hope to boxing fans who were again defending their sport a week after the long, long, long overdue Mayweather-Pacquiao fight failed to provide any bang for the record amount of bucks spent.
While there is no doubt that the lingering effect of the May 2nd money-grab dampened the enthusiasm for Canelo-Kirkland; those who tuned in were briefly reminded of how beautifully savage this sport could be. More importantly, they had to be encouraged that the sport’s next pay per view star has the instincts to seek a knockout when it is presented to him.
When Canelo – Kirkland was made, many felt that it would end in violent knockout. Kirkland is a straight forward fighter whose idea of defense is to throw more punches. In fact, from the opening bell of the fight it was Canelo who was forced to play matador.
While many gave Kirkland a punchers chance, many viewed him as a de-fanged fighter when he does not have former trainer Ann Wolfe in his corner. Kirkland’s previous loss was a shocking 1st round knockout loss to Nobuhiro Ishida. Many felt that loss was due to Kirkland’s lack of focus without Wolfe in his corner.
After surviving the opening flurry, Alvarez went on the offensive. Within minutes he touched Kirkland with his complete arsenal. An accumulation of blows ended with a straight right that forced Kirkland to reach for the ropes, when they were not within his reach, he went to the canvas for the first time.
After three more minutes of punishment, it became apparent that the sand in Kirkland’s hourglass was about to run out. Kirkland continued coming forward despite getting hit squarely with everything that Canelo was throwing at him. As Kirkland lunged forward, Canelo stepped back and dropped him with a beautiful uppercut. Kirkland refused to stay down.
Canelo moved forward behind his final barrage of punches. As Kirkland’s back touched the ropes, he attempted to throw a “Hail Mary” in the form of a wide left hook. Unfortunately for Kirkland, Canelo’s straight right was quicker to the mark. Canelo ducked the left, and Kirkland spun downward to the canvas where he laid for several minutes with his arms over his head.
Like many great knockouts there was no need to count to ten. The result of the impact was obvious. Blunt force had separated a man from his consciousness, and it was time to focus on bring him back.
Jubilation was short lived and Canelo’s face became pale with concern. He had landed the punch that many people dream of, but now It was time for Kirkland to wake up.
Kirkland would later admit that he did not remember being knocked out, but fortunately his CT scan results were positive.
This fight would later be featured on HBO’s “2 Days”. The 15-minute behind the scenes look at the 2 days leading up to the Kirkland fight foreshadowed the action that would unfold. There was a poignant moment when Team Canelo joined hands during the pre-fight prayer. The Lord was asked to not only, “take care of Saul, but to also look after his rival so he doesn’t come out badly injured. We all have family. We all have relatives.”
Fighters are well aware of the risks that they take whenever they climb into a ring. Yet they do so in order to test themselves, dare to be great, and entertain us.
I’d like to thank both Canelo Alvarez and James Kirkland for their courage. Their 9-minute war gave us an evening to celebrate and a moment to reward.
Jason Pribila is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He could be reached for questions or comments at pribs2000@gmail.com and followed on twitter.com @PribsBoxing.
