Kirkland Laing
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Kirkland Laing (20 June 1954 – 9 June 2021) was a Jamaican-born, British
welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...
nicknamed ''The Gifted One''. Laing fought 56 times in a twenty-year career, the highlight of which was a shock
split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split de ...
win over
Roberto Durán Roberto Carlos Durán Samaniego (born June 16, 1951) is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He held quadruple champion, world championships in four weight classes: Lightweight, welterweight, light middleweigh ...
in September 1982. The fight was selected as
Ring Magazine ''The Ring'' (often called ''The Ring'' magazine or ''Ring'' magazine) is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into questio ...
's ''
upset of the year ''The Ring'' magazine was established in 1922 and has since named an Upset of the Year since 1970. The award, based on the magazine's writers' criteria, is given to a fight that resulted in an outcome that was highly contrary to general expectati ...
''. He was a two-time winner of the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
welterweight title and won the
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welterweight title in 1990, with a second round knockout of Antoine Fernandez at the
Wembley Conference Centre Wembley Conference Centre was a conference centre in Wembley Park, London, England, that existed from 1977 to 2006, located next to Wembley Arena. History In the later 1970s, modern multi-purpose halls began opening in British towns and citie ...
.


Early life

Laing was born in Jamaica in 1954. Shortly before his birth, his mother Louise fell off a bicycle. As a result Laing had some developmental difficulties resulting in difficulty walking before the age of five. He also attributes his unconventional boxing stance to this early trauma. He grew up in Nottingham, UK.


Career

Kirkland showed early promise. In May 1972, he beat Vernon Sallas, claiming the 1972 Amateur Boxing Association British featherweight title, when boxing out of the Clifton ABC. His dream was to box in the Olympics like his hero Muhammad Ali, though was not selected to compete in the Munich Games that year. Within the next four years he had turned professional and trained at the renowned Lawless's gym.


The Gifted One

Laing was nicknamed "The Gifted One". His stance was famously "hands down" and wide legged, which left him open to strikes from his opponents, though also gave him the perfect balance to bob and weave out of harm's way. In this way he won against the favourite Duran in 1982, which should have been a pivotal point in his career. However, he struggled to cope with the pressure of success and instead turned to cannabis. Laing's boxing career was sporadic, as he often failed to deliver on his promise, appearing under-prepared against less able fighters and engaging in drink, drugs and gambling. In the year following his victory over Durán, Laing went missing, blowing his earnings. In that same period Durán was to fight four times, earning an estimated $6m. He lost a fight for the European Welterweight title in 1989, but won it a year later by defeating Antoine Fernandez with a knock out in the second round. This was his highest achievement. Laing continued to fight until he was 40, and retired after a stoppage loss to future world champion Glenn Catley. After retiring, Laing continued to live in Hackney, and fell from his balcony in 2003 in circumstances that remain unexplained. Shortly after a BBC documentary by
Steve Bunce Steve Bunce, nicknamed "Buncey", is a British freelance television and radio sport pundit and newspaper columnist. Career He has regularly appeared as a pundit on the BBC sports programme '' Inside Sport'' and on BBC Radio Five Live's '' Figh ...
(made before the fall) was aired. The short film showed Laing to be living life on the streets, although others who know him questioned the piece's accuracy. In 2009, Oliver Jarrat released the book "The Gifted One" Kirkland Laing Through the Eyes of Others, a detailed account of Laing's life and career which took the author six years to research and complete. The book contains many insights from people who were close to the fighter including former managers, trainers and opponents he faced at both amateur and professional level. In 2015, a portrait of Laing by photographer Chris Moyse was acquired by the
National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...
. Laing lived in a care home in
Blidworth Blidworth is a village and civil parish approximately five miles east of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 4,457, this dropped to 4,295 in the 2021 census. Its history can be traced ...
, near
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
, before his death on 9 June 2021.


References


External links

* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Laing, Kirkland 1954 births 2021 deaths English male boxers English people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent Welterweight boxers British male boxers Jamaican emigrants to the United Kingdom