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Kirkland Laing (born 20 June 1954 in Jamaica
Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. It is about south of Cuba, and west of the island of Hispaniola, on which Haiti and the Dominican Republic are situated....
) is a retired British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 Welterweight
Welterweight

Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system....
 boxer
Boxing

Boxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar human weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds....
 nicknamed The Gifted One.

Laing fought 56 times in a twenty year career, the highlight of which was a shock split decision
Split decision

A Split Decision is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving strike in which two of the three judges score for the same fighter as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other fighter....
 win over Roberto Duran
Roberto Durán

Roberto Dur?n is a retired professional boxing from Panama, widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time. During his career he was nicknamed "Manos de Piedra", "Hands of Stone"....
 in September 1982. The fight was selected as Ring Magazine
The Ring (magazine)

The Ring is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into question, The Ring shifted to becoming exclusively a boxing oriented publication....
's upset of the year
Ring Magazine upsets of the year

Ring Magazine was established in 1922. Since 1980, it has named a fight that has resulted in an outcome that was highly contrary to general expectations as upset of the year, based on the magazine's writers' criteria....
. He was a two-time winner of the British
British Boxing Board of Control

The British Boxing Board of Control is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff....
 welterweight title and won the EBU
European Boxing Union

The European Boxing Union is an organization that oversees competition in that sport over the continent of Europe....
 welterweight title in 1990, with a second round knockout of Antoine Fernandez at the Wembley Conference Centre
Wembley Conference Centre

Wembley Conference Centre was a conference centre near Wembley Stadium, Wembley, in London, England.Opened in 1977, it was the first purpose built Conference Centre in the UK....
.

Laing's boxing career was sporadic, as he often failed to deliver on his promise, appearing under-prepared against less able fighters and indulging in drink, drugs and women.






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Kirkland Laing (born 20 June 1954 in Jamaica
Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. It is about south of Cuba, and west of the island of Hispaniola, on which Haiti and the Dominican Republic are situated....
) is a retired British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 Welterweight
Welterweight

Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system....
 boxer
Boxing

Boxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar human weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds....
 nicknamed The Gifted One.

Laing fought 56 times in a twenty year career, the highlight of which was a shock split decision
Split decision

A Split Decision is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving strike in which two of the three judges score for the same fighter as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other fighter....
 win over Roberto Duran
Roberto Durán

Roberto Dur?n is a retired professional boxing from Panama, widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time. During his career he was nicknamed "Manos de Piedra", "Hands of Stone"....
 in September 1982. The fight was selected as Ring Magazine
The Ring (magazine)

The Ring is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into question, The Ring shifted to becoming exclusively a boxing oriented publication....
's upset of the year
Ring Magazine upsets of the year

Ring Magazine was established in 1922. Since 1980, it has named a fight that has resulted in an outcome that was highly contrary to general expectations as upset of the year, based on the magazine's writers' criteria....
. He was a two-time winner of the British
British Boxing Board of Control

The British Boxing Board of Control is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff....
 welterweight title and won the EBU
European Boxing Union

The European Boxing Union is an organization that oversees competition in that sport over the continent of Europe....
 welterweight title in 1990, with a second round knockout of Antoine Fernandez at the Wembley Conference Centre
Wembley Conference Centre

Wembley Conference Centre was a conference centre near Wembley Stadium, Wembley, in London, England.Opened in 1977, it was the first purpose built Conference Centre in the UK....
.

Laing's boxing career was sporadic, as he often failed to deliver on his promise, appearing under-prepared against less able fighters and indulging in drink, drugs and women. In the year following his victory over Duran, Laing went missing, blowing his earnings. In that same period Duran was to fight four times, earning an estimated $6m.

Laing continued to fight until he was 40, and after a string of knock out losses was finally to retire following his defeat at the hands of Glen Catley. After retiring Laing lived in a council flat in Hackney, succumbing to addiction. A regular crack user and alcoholic
Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions to describe the detrimental effects of alcohol intake.In common and historic usage, alcoholism refers to any condition that results in the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages despite health problems and negative social consequences....
, he fell from his balcony in 2003. Shortly after a BBC documentary by Steve Bunce (made before the fall) was aired. The short film showed Laing to be living the life of a bum, although others who know him questioned the piece's accuracy.

Kirkland Laing now lives in Nottingham
Nottingham

Nottingham is one of the three major city status in the United Kingdom in the East Midlands and is in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England....
, close to his children and family.

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