Thomas Hearns vs James Kinchen 4.11.1988 - NABF & WBO Super Middleweight Titles

Описание: The often overlooked NABF Super Middleweight title fight between Thomas Hearns and James Kinchen from 1988. The winner would also be crowned the inaugural WBO Super Middleweight Champion. More info below...

James "The Heat" Kinchen is an underrated fighter in the history of boxing. And although this may sound harsh, he only has himself to blame. Kinchen could take a solid punch and he could throw a solid punch, but he lacked emotion or passion in his work rate, something this fight highlights. His nickname was "The Heat" which was surprisingly what he lacked as a boxer. With that in mind however, he had racked up an impressive record of 45-4-2 going into this fight with Hearns and in his last bout had won the NABF Super Middleweight title. He was also a former USBA Middleweight champion.

Thomas Hearns' record at the time was 45-3, very similar to Kinchen's however the names on Hearns' victims list were of much higher quality. Hearns was a former world champion in 4 weight categories, welterweight, super welterweight, middleweight and light heavyweight. In his last outing however he was knocked out in 3 rounds by Iran Barkley and lost his WBC middleweight title in his first defense. It was the upset of the year according to The Ring magazine.

This would be the first defense of the NABF Middleweight title for Kinchen but the winner of this fight would also be crowned the inaugural WBO Super Middleweight Champion of the World. Hearns was looking for redemption following his loss to Iran Barkely and also to become the first boxer to win world titles in 5 different weight categories. Kinchen was looking to make a successful first defense of his newly won NABF title but also hoping in the process to win his first world title. Hearns had a dramatic height and reach advantage however both were the same age. The fight itself was very exciting, both men had solid exchanges throughout and round 4 is of particular note as Hearns gets knocked down after being trapped in the corner and has to repeatedly hold for the remainder of the round to survive. Something he would be deducted a point for afterwards. Kinchen unfortunately had no back up plan on how to deal with Hearns as the fight wore on. He did the same thing round after round, occasionally it worked for him but more often than not Hearns had an answer. The only time Kinchen showed any "heat" was AFTER he was hit hard first. This may not have been the best performance by Hearns however he did just enough to win by MD and Kinchen showed the world he was at least able to hang with the big boys, coming very close to upset win over "The Hitman".

Kinchen would continue boxing for another 4 years however his career faulted drastically following this defeat and he went 4-4 in his last 8 fights. He would earn himself shots at 2 different versions of the world light heavyweight title losing both by TKO. Although his career ended on a flat note, Kinchen's gutsy effort against Thomas Hearns will live on as undoubtedly the best fight of his career, and an underrated gem of boxing history.