Technical Decision Upsets Kinchen

Relatively unknown middleweight Larry Musgrove of Los Angeles upset former world title contender James Kinchen on Tuesday night before a sellout crowd at The Country Club in Reseda. Musgrove, 162, won a technical decision when the scheduled 10-round main event was stopped by the ringside physician, Dr. Bernhart Schwartz, after three rounds because of two deep cuts above and on the lid of Musgrove’s right eye.

Because Musgrove had received the cuts as the result of an accidental head butt from Kinchen and was ahead on all three judges’ scorecards, he was awarded the decision.

The victim of an accidental butt cannot lose a fight. Even if he trails on the judges’ scorecards, he is awarded a technical draw.

The butt took some of the luster off Musgrove’s shocking win, but he certainly appeared to be headed for a victory anyway. He stunned the crowd in the first round with a solid left-right combination that sent the 163-pound Kinchen crashing to the canvas.

“He got hit with a lot of punches,” said Bobby DePhilippis, Kinchen’s manager. “Of course, if you stand in a front of a guy like he did, you’re going to get hit. It’s pretty obvious James doesn’t know how to fight a southpaw.

“This loss hurts. They all hurt, but this one particularly hurts since he lost to a guy whose rear end I could kick.”

Said Kinchen of the knockdown: “I was cold. I hadn’t warmed up and I just got careless.”

Two years ago, Kinchen, who makes his home in San Diego, was 34-0-2 and setting his sights on middleweight champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler. Now, having lost three of his past four fights to drop his record to 38-4-2, he’s considering a rematch with Musgrove.

That may have seemed ridiculous a few years ago when Musgrove was stumbling along as a light heavyweight with a 4-7-3 record.

Then his trainer, Bill Slayton, suggested he drop down to the middleweight division.

The results have been spectacular. Musgrove is 5-0 in his new weight category and has knocked down each of his opponents.

Still, Slayton admitted, taking on Kinchen seemed to be a bit ambitious.

“I was a little skeptical,” Slayton said. “On paper, it looked like my fighter was in over his head, but the kid’s getting better. And we hoped Kinchen had slipped some. Both guys are 30, so age wasn’t a factor. I just think the kid’s beginning to believe in himself.”

After Tuesday, there ought to be a lot of believers.

In preliminary bouts:

Los Angeles heavyweight Mike Hunter stopped Gary Lightborne of Las Vegas at 2:12 of the first round in their scheduled eight-round bout. Hunter improved his record to 8-1-2. Lightborne dropped to 12-4.

Lightweight Danny Garcia, 135, of Oxnard, won a controversial six-round split decision over Robert Lewis, 135 3/4, of Los Angeles. Garcia, returning to the ring after a self-imposed 16-month layoff, improved his record to 8-2-1. Lewis is 6-6-3.

Featherweight Juan (Kid) Torres dropped to 1-9-2 and maybe out of boxing by losing a five-round unanimous decision to Abe Gomez of Arleta. Gomez improved his record to 5-0.

Junior middleweight Cliff Jackson, 154 1/2, of San Diego, won a unanimous four-round decision over Caleb Ramos, 157, of Oxnard. The victory improved Jackson’s record to 2-7-2. Ramos’ record dropped to 1-3.

Junior welterweight Steve Lewis, 139, of North Hollywood, stopped Armando Centeno, 139, of Los Angeles, at 1:07 of the first-round of their scheduled four-round bout. It was the professional debut for both fighters.