Kevin Philip Kelley (born June 29, 1967) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2009, and held the WBC featherweight title from 1993 to 1995.

Amateur career Kelley won two New York Golden Gloves Championships as well as the 1985 119 lb Sub-Novice Championship and the 1986 119 lb Open Championship. In 1988 Kelley advanced to the finals of the 125 lb 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 70–5.

Professional career

WBC featherweight champion Known as the "Flushing Flash", Kelley held the WBC Featherweight title and defended it until he lost by TKO to, Mexican Alejandro Martín González, after Kelley failed to come out for the 11th round due to both eyes swollen shut. 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 Prince Naseem Hamed and 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 two-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. 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 Hernández in the ring. In an upset victory, Kelley put on his best performance in years, dropping Hernandez in the 4th round en route to a UD victory. Hernandez announced his retirement right after this fight.

Kelley was David Díaz's mandatory for the WBC Interim Lightweight Championship, but he lost a close decision to former titlist Manuel Medina.

Life after boxing Kelley now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada and is currently the co-host on "The Sucker Punch Show" alongside Colin Gates. This is a brand new show by SETAG Management Group. The Sucker Punch Show has interviewed some of the most iconic names in the sport of boxing: Roy Jones Jr, Errol Spence Jr, Andre Ward, Shawn Porter and many others.

While fighting, Kelley also moonlighted as a color commentator, most notably for HBO. Kelley 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.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes72LossVicente EscobedoTKO2 (10), May 21, 200971Loss60–9–2David Rodela8Oct 10, 200870Win60–8–2Jaime PalmaUD10Jul 8, 200869Loss59–8–2Manuel MedinaMD12Nov 11, 200668Win59–7–2Carlos HernándezUD10Sep 28, 200667Loss58–7–2Bobby PacquiaoKO4 (12), Jun 10, 200666Win58–6–2Juan Carlos RamírezKO2 (10), Feb 17, 200665Win57–6–2Sandro MarcosTKO4 (10), Nov 4, 200564Win56–6–2Jose ReyesUD10May 17, 200563Win55–6–2Felix St KittsTKO8 (8), Mar 3, 200562Loss54–6–2Marco Antonio BarreraTKO4 (12), Apr 12, 200361Win54–5–2Johnny WestKO5 (10), Nov 14, 200260Win53–5–2Humberto Soto12Jul 13, 200259Win52–5–2Raul FrancoTKO2 (10), Apr 27, 200258Loss51–5–2Érik MoralesTKO7 (12), Sep 2, 200057Win51–4–2Frankie ArchuletaKO9 (10), Jan 22, 200056Loss50–4–2Benito RodriguezUD10Aug 13, 199955Win50–3–2Héctor VelázquezUD10May 8, 199954Win49–3–2Jorge RamirezKO9 (10)Dec 17, 199853Loss48–3–2Derrick GainerUD10Jul 18, 199852Win48–2–2Vincent HowardUD10May 8, 199851Loss47–2–2Naseem HamedKO4 (12), Dec 19, 199750Win47–1–2Orlando FernandezKO10 (12), Jul 12, 199749Win46–1–2Jesus SaludUD12Mar 14, 199748Win45–1–2Edwin SantanaUD12Nov 16, 199647Win44–1–2Derrick GainerKO8 (12), Jun 15, 199646Win43–1–2Louie EspinozaUD12Feb 2, 199645Draw42–1–2Clarence Adams12Sep 9, 199544Draw42–1–1Tommy Parks2 (10), Jul 28, 199543Win42–1Ricardo RiveraTKO9 (10), Mar 31, 199542Loss41–1Alejandro González10 (12), Jan 7, 199541Win41–0Pete TaliaferroTKO10 (10)Nov 2, 199440Win40–0Jose Vida RamosTKO2 (12), Sep 24, 199439Win39–0Georgie NavarroTKO6 (10), Jun 26, 199438Win38–0Jesse BenavidesUD12May 6, 199437Win37–0Gregorio VargasUD12Dec 4, 199336Win36–0Patrick SimeonUD10Sep 11, 199335Win35–0Adolfo CastilloTKO2 (10), Jul 8, 199334Win34–0Jesus PollTKO6 (10), May 13, 199333Win33–0Angel GonzalezTKO4 (10)Mar 23, 199332Win32–0Peter NievesTKO6 (10), Jan 12, 199331Win31–0Roberto VillarealKO3 (10), Sep 25, 199230Win30–0Antonio HernandezUD10Aug 20, 199229Win29–0Alric JohnsonPTS10Jun 2, 199228Win28–0Tomas ValdezTKO2 (10), May 21, 199227Win27–0Troy DorseyUD12Feb 18, 199226Win26–0Hector PadillaTKO2 (10)Jan 31, 199225Win25–0Rafael ZuñigaTKO4 (12), Nov 12, 199124Win24–0Cesar AlmonteKO2 (10)Oct 4, 199123Win23–0Juan Gomez PoloTKO2 (8)Aug 31, 199122Win22–0James PippsTKO4 (10), Jul 23, 199121Win21–0Job WaltersTKO6 (10)Jun 14, 199120Win20–0Richie FosterKO1May 27, 199119Win19–0Harold WarrenUD10Mar 22, 199118Win18–0Boualem BelkifKO3Feb 12, 199117Win17–0Ernesto QuintanaTKO1 (10), Nov 30, 199016Win16–0Jesse SierraTKO5 (8), Oct 30, 199015Win15–0Cruz SaldanaKO1 (8), Sep 13, 199014Win14–0Russell DavisonPTS8Dec 23, 198913Win13–0Martin MendozaKO1Nov 30, 198912Win12–0Fermin RodriguezKO2Nov 13, 198911Win11–0Jean Pierre DibatezaPTS8Oct 30, 198910Win10–0Byron ChaconTKO1 (6), Aug 24, 19899Win9–0Jose VillasenorKO1, Jul 27, 19898Win8–0Bruce FlippinsTKO4 (6)May 25, 19897Win7–0Anthony BarelaUD6May 5, 19896Win6–0Anthony Barela6Mar 3, 19895Win5–0Carlos Peralta2 (4), Feb 9, 19894Win4–0Agustin SilvaTKO4 (4), Dec 15, 19883Win3–0Joey King4Nov 10, 19882Win2–0Vicente AriasTKO1 (4), Oct 27, 19881Win1–0Willie Barnes2 (4)Sep 8, 1988

References

External links