Injury to James Kirkland forces cancellation of bout with Miguel Cotto
James Kirkland suffered a broken nose which forced the cancellation of his planned Feb. 25 pay-per-view bout against former world champion Miguel Cotto, an injury which save the promotion a flood of red ink.
The match would have been fine on HBO Sports, and it was puzzling when promoter Roc Nation opted to take it to pay-per-view. It was universally expected the bout would drown in a sea of red ink.
The injury to Kirkland, who hasn’t fought since being knocked out by Canelo Alvarez on May 9, 2015, in Houston, forced the cancellation of the entire card.
Cotto, one of the greatest fighters in this era, has also been off for nearly two years. He hasn’t fought since dropping the WBC middleweight title to Alvarez on Nov. 21, 2015, in Las Vegas.
The bout with Kirkland was an odd choice of a match for Cotto’s return. Not only was Kirkland out a long time, he’s not in Cotto’s class and there was no significance to the match.
Customers who purchased tickets through Ticketmaster via phone, online or mobile will receive a credit to the form of payment used. Tickets purchased at the Ford Center or AT&T Stadium box offices will be refunded at the North ticket office of AT&T Stadium.
