A Good Fighter In Decline

[darbo 4,779]

A talented fighter liked to watch him. Didnt reach his potential some dont have the discipline.

 

https://youtu.be/oY_1iNtpb1E

[stealthy1 3,964]

I remember this upset.

 

[shepp 2,285]

I remember this upset.

 

I think Laing was too daft to be daunted with taking on Duran.

Whenever he got a decent purse he would bugger off partying until he was broke again.

[downsouth 8,070]

I'm sure gnasher could probably tell a story or two about this fella pretty sure they weren't a million miles away from each other.

[j j m 6,602]

He was talented

[TUFFTY 1,484]

Think you will find that Gnasher and Laing fought out the repton.

 

Laing liked a smoke

Edited January 23, 2016 by TUFFTY

[shepp 2,285]

I guess we'll have to wait till tomorrow

[AKA-BRINDLE 879]

Laing was talented for sure...but i got little sympathy for those that piss away a god given talent...no matter how many excuses they give...Bunce makes out that Laing beat Duran and just disappeared...but he fought on for a decade after losing a bunch of times...but saying that you cant take the Duran win away from him...it makes a great story...reminds me of Dicky Eckland...in my opinion Lloyg Honeyghan was by far the better Welterweight at that time.

Edited January 24, 2016 by AKA-BRINDLE

[shepp 2,285]

Laing was talented for sure...but i got little sympathy for those that piss away a god given talent...no matter how many excuses they give...Bunce makes out that Laing beat Duran and just disappeared...but he fought on for a decade after losing a bunch of times...but saying that you cant take the Duran win away from him...it makes a great story...reminds me of Dicky Eckland...in my opinion Lloyg Honeyghan was by far the better Welterweight at that time.

I think by disappear he meant, go on the piss until he was broke again

[gnasher16 30,872]

Think you will find that Gnasher and Laing fought out the repton.

 

Laing liked a smoke

Kirkland never boxed for Repton i didnt know him until he came down to the Royal Oak as a pro he was 6 or 7 years older than me the first time i saw him he was sparring with Maurice Hope when Maurice was already world champion and you genuinely wouldnt of known which one was a world champion !.....he had a cockiness about him that rubbed people up the wrong way and what with the way tensions were between blacks and whites in the area at that time you didnt really mix outside of the gym,there was guys like Rod Thomas and Dabs Edun ( who is now president of Repton ) who were the most hate filled black men ive ever come across they would latch onto guys like Kirk and get them onside but Kirk loved everybody he had no badness in him at all so he got stick from us whities just because of his loyalty to Dabs..... he was a funny character though.... to watch him shadow box you would think he didnt belong in a gym as he was flat footed and had this jerky sort of style,he used to say he was born with some kind of foot defect they faced the wrong way or something but you never knew when to take him serious so most people didnt.....until you got in the ring with him then he was a serious handful i never sparred him myself as i was a heavyweight but he caused a lot of rucks simply because he was so good its just a shame he couldnt replicate it in the ring....he was a terrible trainer,well respected trainers like Earnie Fossy and Dennie Mancini point blank refused to train him he would spar with a joint behind his ear then sit and smoke it before doing his roadwork

 

As aka brindle said though you cant have too much sympathy for him some folk have what it takes to become champions and some dont we can all say we could of done this and that.... we had a whole gym of heavyweights who could of done things but the reality is very few actually do we had guys like myself,Tommy Dempsey,Adrian Elliot,the Valentine brothers all decent heavyweights and good prospects who all f****d it up in one way or another and became either sparring partners or journeymen because we didnt have the dedication......Kirk didnt have the dedication but he had so much skill that ability alone took him further than most.......as for Honeyghan im not aware of Laing dodging him Lloyd was world champion he wouldnt of come down to domestic level at that time,besides they were both Mickey Duff fighters anyway he wouldnt of had that.

 

oops bit long that i got carried away !

Edited January 24, 2016 by gnasher16

[satan80 358]

 

Think you will find that Gnasher and Laing fought out the repton.

 

Laing liked a smoke

Kirkland never boxed for Repton i didnt know him until he came down to the Royal Oak as a pro he was 6 or 7 years older than me the first time i saw him he was sparring with Maurice Hope when Maurice was already world champion and you genuinely wouldnt of known which one was a world champion !.....he had a cockiness about him that rubbed people up the wrong way and what with the way tensions were between blacks and whites in the area at that time you didnt really mix outside of the gym,there was guys like Rod Thomas and Dabs Edun ( who is now president of Repton ) who were the most hate filled black men ive ever come across they would latch onto guys like Kirk and get them onside but Kirk loved everybody he had no badness in him at all so he got stick from us whities just because of his loyalty to Dabs..... he was a funny character though.... to watch him shadow box you would think he didnt belong in a gym as he was flat footed and had this jerky sort of style,he used to say he was born with some kind of foot defect they faced the wrong way or something but you never knew when to take him serious so most people didnt.....until you got in the ring with him then he was a serious handful i never sparred him myself as i was a heavyweight but he caused a lot of rucks simply because he was so good its just a shame he couldnt replicate it in the ring....he was a terrible trainer,well respected trainers like Earnie Fossy and Dennie Mancini point blank refused to train him he would spar with a joint behind his ear then sit and smoke it before doing his roadwork

 

As aka brindle said though you cant have too much sympathy for him some folk have what it takes to become champions and some dont we can all say we could of done this and that.... we had a whole gym of heavyweights who could of done things but the reality is very few actually do we had guys like myself,Tommy Dempsey,Adrian Elliot,the Valentine brothers all decent heavyweights and good prospects who all f****d it up in one way or another and became either sparring partners or journeymen because we didnt have the dedication......Kirk didnt have the dedication but he had so much skill that ability alone took him further than most.......as for Honeyghan im not aware of Laing dodging him Lloyd was world champion he wouldnt of come down to domestic level at that time,besides they were both Mickey Duff fighters anyway he wouldnt of had that.

 

oops bit long that i got carried away !

 

 

great post, enjoyed reading that. Kirkland sounded like a character but as you say boxing is one of the sports that requires absolute dedication if you've got any chance of reaching your potential, the mental capacity to live like a monk and train like a demon is an underrated quality in fighters

[Greengrass 208]

Anyway you look at it he had an enormous amount of skill, wasted ? Well that's another question. I'm just after watching all the Duran fight again and you have to say that Laing was'nt fazed at all by Duran, never ever looked as if he was bothered by who was in front of him, if only more britishboxers followed his example fighting over here might be in a better place.

Listen to the commentary and at the end of the 2nd round the commentator has written Laing off ....3 rounds later and he loves him, he was fast, not scared to mix it with let's face it one of the greatest ever, what could have been could have been but you have to ask yourself will Kirkland be bothered at 6:30 on a Sunday night as he tokes on a J or opens his next can ? I don't think so and good luck to him.

[gnasher16 30,872]

Its not the best picture but this was Kirkland last year with his son.....he,s living in a care home up near Grimsby,still not often seen without a can of strong lager in his hand but he seems happy enough in his own little way.

 

Speaking of fighters in decline what a strange turn out down West Ham yesterday we,re stood there and my mate says " where do i know that bloke from ".....i turn round and sat there like a little choir boy was Gennady Golovkin

[dytkos 17,896]

Its not the best picture but this was Kirkland last year with his son.....he,s living in a care home up near Grimsby,still not often seen without a can of strong lager in his hand but he seems happy enough in his own little way.

 

Speaking of fighters in decline what a strange turn out down West Ham yesterday we,re stood there and my mate says " where do i know that bloke from ".....i turn round and sat there like a little choir boy was Gennady Golovkin

Big Anglophile seemingly, was really interested in touring the BBC according to R5 Live today

 

Cheers, D.

[TUFFTY 1,484]

Its not the best picture but this was Kirkland last year with his son.....he,s living in a care home up near Grimsby,still not often seen without a can of strong lager in his hand but he seems happy enough in his own little way.

 

Speaking of fighters in decline what a strange turn out down West Ham yesterday we,re stood there and my mate says " where do i know that bloke from ".....i turn round and sat there like a little choir boy was Gennady Golovkin

There was a bit on ssp news about ggg being a big west ham fan.

 

Do you get and see Kirkland at all Gnasher?