Boxing's Best Prospect: James "Mandingo" Kirkland (25-0, 22 KO's)

James Kirkland is finally getting the recognition and the attention he deserves. He has compiled a record of 25 wins, 0 losses with 22 wins by way of knockout. Kirkland was destined to be a boxing superstar since his debut. He compiled a record of 134-12 as an amateur before turning professional. He had many accomplishments as an amateur which included the Silver Gloves Championship and he reached the finals of the Golden Gloves Tournament. Kirkland decided to turn professional instead of going to the Olympics because he needed to support his family.

Kirkland officially turned pro in August 2001 winning his pro debut by third round knockout. Kirkland would win his next four fights by KO. He would make his first appearance on ShoBox: The New Generation against Mohammed Said when Kirkland had a record of 19-0 with 16 knockouts. ShoBox is a boxing program seen on Showtime that highlights the rising stars and prospects in all of boxing. Kirkland would KO Said in 2 rounds making a big impression. His next fight would be against Allen Conyers, again on ShoBox. This was supposed to be a stay busy fight for Kirkland but proved to be one of the hardest fights in his career. Kirkland would get knocked down in the first round suffering the first KD of his career but would come back to knock Conyers down twice in the same round and finishing him. Kirkland made his HBO debut against Eromosele Albert (21-1), impressively knocking him out in one minute. Kirkland then had his second fight on HBO, against Brian Vera (16-1) -- who defeated undefeated Andy Lee in his last fight -- and Kirkland knocked Vera down 3 times, finally knocking him out in the eighth round.

The most unique thing about James Kirkland is that he has a female trainer named Ann Wolfe. Wolfe, similar to Kirkland was also a boxer who began boxing because she needed the money. For those who don't know who Ann Wolfe is, she was a women's world champion with a final record of 24-1, 16 KO's. She is best known for her one-round knockout over Vonda Ward (known as "greatest KO in women's boxing history") and Laila Ali refusing to fight her. Wolfe retired in 2006 and started to train fighters. Her star pupil so far is James Kirkland. Kirkland and Wolfe have vigorous training sessions. Some examples of the unorthodox traning: Kirkland hitting a heavy bag that is tied to the back of a pick-up truck going at certain speed to increase strength and footwork and sparring with two fighters at the same time.

Most recently, Kirkland finally headlined his first HBO telecast when he fought Joel Julio, who is one of the hardest hitters in that division. He was fighting on the main event of a card that featured up-and-comers Victor Ortiz and Robert Guerrero. Over 6 brutal rounds, action went back and forth, with Kirkland getting the better of Julio. The fight was stopped in the corner after 6 because of the state of Julio's face. This is so far the best win on Kirkland's resume. Kirkland is scheduled next to fight Sergiy Dzinzuruk (36-0, 22 KO's) on June 27 for the WBO World Light Middleweight Championship. This will be Kirkland's first chance to become world champion. The future seems bright for young James Kirkland.