JAMES KIRKLAND vs BRIAN VERA

HBO viewers and the crowd at the MGM Grand on Saturday will be treated to one of those action-guaranteed fights when unbeaten James Kirkland meets tough Brian Vera in a 10-rounder made at the catch weight of 157 1/2 pounds.

This fight should warm up the watchers nicely for the Hatton-Malignaggi main event. Kirkland is always exciting, a pressure fighter who throws lots of punches from his southpaw style. Vera is a like-minded type of fighter. There is nothing fancy about the 26-year-old, who, like Kirkland, is based in Austin, TX. Vera comes out fighting, and he keeps fighting, bell to bell, round after round.

Kirkland looked far too easy to hit in his last fight when he stopped the tall, rangy Ricardo Cortes in two wild-and-woolly rounds. He seemed to forget all about technique and just went out to try to overwhelm Cortes in front of the Austin hometown crowd. He got the quick win he was seeking, but he took some shots he could have done without. Vera, meanwhile, is coming into this fight after giving his finest performance, when he outlasted and stopped the previously unbeaten Andy Lee in seven rounds.

Having fought at 168 pounds, Vera is the naturally bigger man: Kirkland is a natural 154-pounder and I’m told that he could probably make welterweight. Kirkland, though, is the faster fighter, with better accuracy and superior combinations.

We all know that Kirkland is going to come out with all guns blazing, but I think he will be a bit sharper than he was in the Cortes fight, perhaps using the jab, moving his head a bit more and at least getting his gloves up to block some blows.

Vera tends to wing his punches, while Kirkland is the more compact, shorter puncher. I think that this will give Kirkland the clear advantage. He will, I think, be able to duck and roll under Vera’s punches and do some damage up close. He probably won’t dodge them all, though, and I can see him getting hit and even staggered a time or two — after all, Kirkland even got rocked in his one-round win over Allen Conyers.

Taking risks and getting nailed now and then is what makes Kirkland the fighter he is, though. They don’t come any more crowd-pleasing than Kirkland, and he will be looking to make a big impression in his most important fight to date. I think that Kirkland’s speed in getting across the ring and right on top of an opponent will allow him to go to work with piston-like punching and grab control of the fight. There might be a shaky moment or two but I think that he will throw too many punches, too fast, for Vera to cope with, and I see Kirkland winning on a stoppage in five or six rounds.