Kevin Kelley

Infobox_Boxer


name = Kevin Kelley
realname = Kevin Kelley
nickname = The Flushing Flash
weight = Featherweight
nationality = American
birth_date = birth date and age|1967|6|29
death_date =
birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
home = Flushing, New York, U.S.
style = Southpaw
total = 69
wins = 59
KO = 39
losses = 8
draws = 2
no contests = 0

Kevin Kelley (born Kevin Philip Kelley on June 29, 1967, in Brooklyn, New York) is a professional boxer and former television commentator.

Amateur career

Kelley won two New York Golden Gloves Championships as well as the 1985 119lb Sub-Novice Championship and the 1986 119lb Open Championship. In 1988 Kelley advanced to the finals of the 125lb Open division and was to have met Fred Liberatore in the finals. Kelley was injured and could not fight. Liberatore was declared the Champion by Default-Injury.

In the Olympic box-offs he lost to Carl Daniels. His record was 62-5.

Professional career

Known as the "Flushing Flash," Kelley held the WBC featherweight title and defended it until he lost he TKO to Alejandro Gonzalez, after Kelley failed to come out for the 11th round. Kelley won the title by defeating Gregorio Vargas by unanimous decision in 1993.

Kelley was then signed to an HBO contract, and remained in title contention for the next decade. More known for being in big fights rather than gaining big victories, Kelley's resume includes TKO losses to boxing legends Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, both of which came during Kelley's career decline.

Loss to Hamed

Kelley's defeats include losses to Naseem Hamed. In 1997 Hamed flew to the United States to fight there for the first time. His ceremonious arrival on the British Airways Concorde was covered by multiple media outlets. There, he and former 2 time WBC Featherweight champion of the world Kevin Kelley fought in Ring Magazine's fight of the year at the Madison Square Garden in New York. This fight marks something of a watershed in Hamed's career, as he was forced, for the first time, to abandon his hands-down style of fighting throughout the entire course of the bout, given the calibre of Kelley. In addition, many of the speed and stamina-related hallmarks of his career, i.e. the prevalence of combination punching, ability to dodge blows etc, seemed to have degraded somewhat; debate still rages as to whether this was the result of increasing age, or of increasing quality of opponent, or both. Nonetheless, despite being dropped three times himself, Hamed put Kelley down for a third and final time to win by a fourth round knockout. This was his first of many fights on HBO. The fight was ranked 100th in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sporting Moments in 2002.

Kelley knocked out former WBA featherweight champion Derrick Gainer in 1996, a loss which Gainer later avenged via unanimous decision in 1998.

Loss to Bobby Pacquiao

Kelley was then outclassed and KO'd by Bobby Pacquiao. On September 28, 2006, Kelley met Carlos Hernandez in the ring. In an upset victory, Kelly put on his best performance in years, dropping Hernandez in the 4th round on route to a UD victory. Hernandez announced his retirement right after this fight.

Kelly was David Diaz's mandatory for the WBC Interim Lightweight Championship, but in his most recent bout, a close decision to former titleist Manuel Medina.

His current record is 60 wins, 8 losses, and two draws. He has 39 wins by knockout.

Outside the ring

While fighting, Kelley also has moonlighted as a color commentator, most notably for HBO. He was the lead on HBO's short lived "KO Nation" television show. The show served as a "hip hop" based boxing broadcast, and was hosted by Ed Lover.

External links

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