Anyone who was disappointed with the lack of action in Mayweather-Pacquiao should consider tuning in Saturday night (HBO, 9 p.m. ET) because James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) may throw as many punches in two or three rounds as either fighter threw last weekend.
Kirkland takes on rising 24-year-old superstar Canelo Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs), and brings with him a frenetic, brawling style that has pleased fans throughout his career.
Hit and don't get hit may be Mayweather's mantra, but Kirkland gets hit, sometimes dropped, and gets up and keeps throwing punches in bunches, and he's ready to shock the world.
"This is something I've been wanting since when I saw Canelo on the uprising," he said. "I've been wanting to fight him from the beginning. Certain things have kept the fight from happening, a shoulder injury, and a lot of other things that got in the way, but it's here now, and I'm ready, and I'm prepared."
Kirkland is also famous for hellacious training camps which match the pace with which he fights. Despite not working with long-time trainer Ann Wolfe for this fight, he kept that intensity in camp, and while some question the move to part with the tenacity Wolfe brought, Kirkland was looking to add more to his arsenal.
"Anything that I'm doing is going to be hard and gets harder. People are going to see from my body the type of preparation I've gone through this camp. This has been one of my hardest training camps, but at the same time, one of the most focused training camps. Overall, I'm just extremely happy about it.
"The greatest thing about camp is they're allowing me to be me. Certain things that I had worked with Ann, and certain things we have adjusted and molded have added more craft, and skill and class and, at the same time, being able to see my opponent in front of me. It's been a beautiful camp."
Oscar De La Hoya says this weekend will represent a passing of the torch from Mayweather and Pacquiao, the two who have carried boxing for more than a decade to Canelo Alvarez, boxing's next star.
Kirkland isn't ready to just hand him that, and he assures anyone who watches that this will be anything but a disappointment.
"Oh man, for people who don't know about James Kirkland, it's one of those fights where you've got to be there because I know, and Canelo knows, this fight is not going to the judges."
And Kirkland has always delivered on those promises.
