Kirkland has been in and out of prison a few times, a long history trainer issues and lawsuits with promotional companies over the last 4 years.
He has never lived up to his potential and has made a lot of curious (aka bad) business decisions. 50 Cent thinks he can resurrect his career.
Junior middleweight James Kirkland, out of action since March 2012 due to legal problems and a lawsuit with his former promoter, has signed with promoter/rap star Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s SMS Promotions and has his next fight lined up.
Jackson announced that Kirkland will face 23-year-old Glen Tapia (20-0, 12 KOs) of Passaic, N.J., on Dec. 7 on an HBO-televised tripleheader at the Adrian Phillips Ballroom at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. The fight has only been in the works for about two weeks. The card is due to be headlined by unified junior featherweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux against former bantamweight titlist Joseph Agbeko and also will include a middleweight fight between former three-time title challenger Matthew Macklin and Willie Nelson.
50 Cent promotional company has had minimal success so far and Kirkland is by far the highest profile boxer he has signed, but with Kirkland’s history of screw ups and suspect chin, the jury is still out on if this will be a successful signing or not.