By Ryan Maquiñana

BoxingScene.com has confirmed that junior middleweight contenders James Kirkland and Carlos Molina will meet in an HBO-televised broadcast on Jan. 28.

The news comes on the heels of a Nov. 13 report on this site that originally reported Team Kirkland’s interest in a Molina fight.

The explosive Kirkland (30-1, 27 KOs), from Austin, Tex., has re-established himself as a force in the 154-pound division since the southpaw reunited with trainer Ann Wolfe and subsequently stopped Alfredo “Perro” Angulo in a thrilling six-round war in November.

Meanwhile, the much-avoided Molina (19-4-2, 6 KOs) is coming off an impressive three-bout stretch in 2011 that includes a dominant ten-round unanimous decision over Kermit Cintron, a seventh-round TKO of Allen Conyers, and a controversial draw against Erislandy Lara that many thought he had won.

Talks are under way to determine a venue for the bout.

Ryan Maquiñana is the boxing correspondent at Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, and Ring Magazine’s Ratings Advisory Panel. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com , check out his blog at www.maqdown.com or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.