Kinchen’s Comeback a Winner

SAN DIEGO —  After a four-year absence from the ring, Robert Kinchen wanted his comeback fight Thursday night at the El Cortea Convention Center to be nice and easy.

Instead, it was rough and awkward, but not rough enough to cause any serious problems for Kinchen, who is the younger brother of middleweight James (The Heat) Kinchen. He stopped Jose Moreno on a technical knockout after the second round.

But it surely was awkward enough to make Kinchen think twice about a comeback.

“He was not what I expected,” said Kinchen, 23, of left-hander Jose Moreno of Tecate, Mexico. “I almost turned to my trainer and said ‘What’s this?’ ”

In the main event, San Diego junior middleweight Terry Norris (22-3), ranked fourth by the World Boxing Council, stopped Phoenix’s Nathan Dryer (12-7) at 1:45 of the fourth round on a technical knockout. Dryer’s trainer threw in the towel when his fighter could no longer see out of his left eye.

Kinchen (174 pounds) was aware that his scheduled opponent had pulled out of the fight earlier in the day, but he had no idea the replacement would be a left-hander.

“I couldn’t tell what he was going to do,” said Kinchen, who attended Morse High. “Luckily, he switched to righty sometimes. He also had more heart than I expected.”

But that could not stop the right hand of Kinchen.

Late in the first round, Kinchen caught Moreno (4-2) square on the nose with a right-hand uppercut. In the second round, Moreno (181 pounds) was put down by a Kinchen right that landed on his collarbone. His nose also bled profusely and he had trouble breathing.

Moreno landed a couple of left hooks, but none seemed to faze Kinchen.

The ring doctor stopped the fight between the second and third rounds because Moreno was having trouble breathing through his nose.

James Kinchen, who helped train Robert for his return bout, said he was impressed, particularly considering the circumstances.

“I thought he did well for being off that long, and for having to fight a lefty with no warning,” James Kinchen said.

Robert wasn’t quite as pleased.

“It’s nothing to hoop-and-holler about,” he said. “I had some ring-rust. It’s takes a while to get back in the groove, and an awkward guy like this doesn’t make it any better.”

Kinchen left boxing after only three pro fights--all knockout wins--searching for something. What, he wasn’t sure.

“Maybe I just needed to grow up,” he said.

All grown up and coming off two years of working in the Navy field support office, Kinchen said he was ready to start making some real money again.

“Say what you want about boxing, but it’s a great way of making money, but you have to be in the right place at the right time,” Kinchen said.

Which is where his brother James will be Oct. 24 when he fights Virgil Hill in Bismarck, N.D., for the International Boxing Federation Title. After years of waiting, it will be “The Heat’s” first title shot.

“I admire James a lot,” Robert said. “He’s my hero. He’s paid his dues. I want to be like him.”

San Diego’s Brad Powell (177) won his debut with a third-round knockout of Tijuana’s Rafael Servin (175 3/4) in the opening bout.

In the second bout, San Diego’s Rogelio Perez (117 1/2) captured his first pro victory with a knockout at 1:37 of the third round over Los Angeles’ Jose Daniel (117 3/4).