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

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 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 cham