James “The Heat” Kinchen: A Look Back at a Top Contender
Loading ...
By Ian “The Boxing Historian” Murphy
Boxing history is filled with fighters who “almost made it”. Fighters like George Chuvalo, Yaqui Lopez, and Earnie Shavers immediately come to mind. Some small twist of fate, a decision gone the other way, or missed opportunity could have made these men champions. Another fighter who was perhaps not as well known, but who came equally as close to winning it all was 1980s Middleweight/Super Middleweight contender James “The Heat” Kinchen.
Kinchen was born in McKinley, Texas in 1958. He had good success on the local amateur circuit in the late 1970s before turning pro as a Middleweight in 1980. He started hot out of the gate, and racked up an impressive unbeaten streak. Kinchen showed great promise and became a highly rated prospect and soon began competing for state and regional titles. He had good power, good movement and was hard to hit cleanly in his prime. Back in the early 1980s, winning belts like the NABF and USBA titles put a prospect on the map and often later led to big money bouts or title fights. It was a necessary Rite of Passage. James’ early competition was not the stiffest, but he showed great potential and was in position to take a big step up in competition after capturing these minor titles.
In November 1983, Kinchen fought tough veteran contender Murray Sutherland, and defeated him by unanimous decision in ten rounds. James continued to win throughout 1984 and after knocking Alex Ramos out cold in November for the USBA Middleweight title, Kinchen’s record stood at 34-0-2. James was now a top five contender and appeared to be on a fast track to fight Marvin Hagler for the World Middleweight Title. Three months later, in February 1985, he was matched against fellow rising and undefeated contender James Shuler and lost a close 12 round decision for his first loss. This would be the first of a number of “almosts” for the Texan. Kinchen rebounded to win three in a row, but lost another close one to future Middleweight Champion Iran “The Blade” Barkley in 1986.
1987 was a tough year for “The Heat”, as he lost half of his 4 fights. One was to tough and talented Juan Roldan (TKO9) and the other one was to unheralded Larry Musgrove who had a spotty 8-7 record. Kinchen rebounded in a big way in 1988, winning six fights in a row and this led to a match with Thomas “The Hit Man” Hearns for the vacant WBO Super Middleweight Championship. Kinchen was a big underdog to Hearns, who at that time was among the best fighters pound for pound of his era. James fought a fantastic fight, giving the “The Hitman” a real test, even flooring him in the fourth round. Many people gave the fight to Kinchen, but the judges on hand scored the bout for Hearns by majority decision. This unpopular decision was perhaps the most disappointing of James’ career and he was never the same after this fight.
After his controversial loss to Thomas Hearns, Kinchen split his next two fights and was matched with undefeated Virgil Hill for the WBA Light Heavyweight title in October 1989. This was Kinchen’s last shot at greatness. James was overwhelmed in the first round by the younger, naturally bigger and more explosive Hill, and the referee stopped the contest. Kinchen was past thirty at this point and was fighting two weight classes over his natural division of Middleweight. Following the loss to Hill, Kinchen fought on for three more years, splitting his last four fights and retiring in 1992 at the age of 34 with a final record of 49-9-2.
Today, Kinchen is a minister in San Diego working with underprivileged youth. He should be remembered as a top pro fighter, who gave the best of his era very tough and competitive matches. Kinchen had the talent and the ability to be a champion, but as it sometimes happens, luck was often not on his side. Kinchen would have given Marvin Hagler all he could handle had he beaten Shuler. He extended a near prime Thomas Hearns and outside of his loss to Hill and his defeats at the very end, James was never soundly beaten or hurt very badly. This is a testament to his skills and determination.
[si-contact-form form=’2′]