| Kevin Kelley | |
| Realname: | Kevin Philip Kelley |
| Nickname: | The Flushing Flash |
| Weight: | |
| Birth Date: | 29 June 1967 |
| Birth Place: | Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Style: | Southpaw |
| Total: | 72 |
| Wins: | 60 |
| Ko: | 39 |
| Losses: | 10 |
| Draws: | 2 |
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.
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.
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.
See main article: Naseem Hamed vs. Kevin Kelley. 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.[1] 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.
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.
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.
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72 | Loss | 60–10–2 | Vicente Escobedo | TKO | 2 (10), | May 21, 2009 | |||
| 71 | Loss | 60–9–2 | David Rodela | 8 | Oct 10, 2008 | ||||
| 70 | Win | 60–8–2 | Jaime Palma | UD | 10 | Jul 8, 2008 | |||
| 69 | Loss | 59–8–2 | Manuel Medina | MD | 12 | Nov 11, 2006 | |||
| 68 | Win | 59–7–2 | Carlos Hernández | UD | 10 | Sep 28, 2006 | |||
| 67 | Loss | 58–7–2 | Bobby Pacquiao | KO | 4 (12), | Jun 10, 2006 | |||
| 66 | Win | 58–6–2 | Juan Carlos Ramírez | KO | 2 (10), | Feb 17, 2006 | |||
| 65 | Win | 57–6–2 | Sandro Marcos | TKO | 4 (10), | Nov 4, 2005 | |||
| 64 | Win | 56–6–2 | Jose Reyes | UD | 10 | May 17, 2005 | |||
| 63 | Win | 55–6–2 | Felix St Kitts | TKO | 8 (8), | Mar 3, 2005 | |||
| 62 | Loss | 54–6–2 | Marco Antonio Barrera | TKO | 4 (12), | Apr 12, 2003 | |||
| 61 | Win | 54–5–2 | Johnny West | KO | 5 (10), | Nov 14, 2002 | |||
| 60 | Win | 53–5–2 | Humberto Soto | 12 | Jul 13, 2002 | ||||
| 59 | Win | 52–5–2 | Raul Franco | TKO | 2 (10), | Apr 27, 2002 | |||
| 58 | Loss | 51–5–2 | Érik Morales | TKO | 7 (12), | Sep 2, 2000 | |||
| 57 | Win | 51–4–2 | Frankie Archuleta | KO | 9 (10), | Jan 22, 2000 | |||
| 56 | Loss | 50–4–2 | Benito Rodriguez | UD | 10 | Aug 13, 1999 | |||
| 55 | Win | 50–3–2 | Héctor Velázquez | UD | 10 | May 8, 1999 | |||
| 54 | Win | 49–3–2 | Jorge Ramirez | KO | 9 (10) | Dec 17, 1998 | |||
| 53 | Loss | 48–3–2 | Derrick Gainer | UD | 10 | Jul 18, 1998 | |||
| 52 | Win | 48–2–2 | Vincent Howard | UD | 10 | May 8, 1998 | |||
| 51 | Loss | 47–2–2 | Naseem Hamed | KO | 4 (12), | Dec 19, 1997 | |||
| 50 | Win | 47–1–2 | Orlando Fernandez | KO | 10 (12), | Jul 12, 1997 | |||
| 49 | Win | 46–1–2 | Jesus Salud | UD | 12 | Mar 14, 1997 | |||
| 48 | Win | 45–1–2 | Edwin Santana | UD | 12 | Nov 16, 1996 | |||
| 47 | Win | 44–1–2 | Derrick Gainer | KO | 8 (12), | Jun 15, 1996 | |||
| 46 | Win | 43–1–2 | Louie Espinoza | UD | 12 | Feb 2, 1996 | |||
| 45 | Draw | 42–1–2 | Clarence Adams | 12 | Sep 9, 1995 | ||||
| 44 | Draw | 42–1–1 | Tommy Parks | 2 (10), | Jul 28, 1995 | ||||
| 43 | Win | 42–1 | Ricardo Rivera | TKO | 9 (10), | Mar 31, 1995 | |||
| 42 | Loss | 41–1 | Alejandro González | 10 (12), | Jan 7, 1995 | ||||
| 41 | Win | 41–0 | Pete Taliaferro | TKO | 10 (10) | Nov 2, 1994 | |||
| 40 | Win | 40–0 | Jose Vida Ramos | TKO | 2 (12), | Sep 24, 1994 | |||
| 39 | Win | 39–0 | Georgie Navarro | TKO | 6 (10), | Jun 26, 1994 | |||
| 38 | Win | 38–0 | Jesse Benavides | UD | 12 | May 6, 1994 | |||
| 37 | Win | 37–0 | Gregorio Vargas | UD | 12 | Dec 4, 1993 | |||
| 36 | Win | 36–0 | Patrick Simeon | UD | 10 | Sep 11, 1993 | |||
| 35 | Win | 35–0 | Adolfo Castillo | TKO | 2 (10), | Jul 8, 1993 | |||
| 34 | Win | 34–0 | Jesus Poll | TKO | 6 (10), | May 13, 1993 | |||
| 33 | Win | 33–0 | Angel Gonzalez | TKO | 4 (10) | Mar 23, 1993 | |||
| 32 | Win | 32–0 | Peter Nieves | TKO | 6 (10), | Jan 12, 1993 | |||
| 31 | Win | 31–0 | Roberto Villareal | KO | 3 (10), | Sep 25, 1992 | |||
| 30 | Win | 30–0 | Antonio Hernandez | UD | 10 | Aug 20, 1992 | |||
| 29 | Win | 29–0 | Alric Johnson | PTS | 10 | Jun 2, 1992 | |||
| 28 | Win | 28–0 | Tomas Valdez | TKO | 2 (10), | May 21, 1992 | |||
| 27 | Win | 27–0 | Troy Dorsey | UD | 12 | Feb 18, 1992 | |||
| 26 | Win | 26–0 | Hector Padilla | TKO | 2 (10) | Jan 31, 1992 | |||
| 25 | Win | 25–0 | Rafael Zuñiga | TKO | 4 (12), | Nov 12, 1991 | |||
| 24 | Win | 24–0 | Cesar Almonte | KO | 2 (10) | Oct 4, 1991 | |||
| 23 | Win | 23–0 | Juan Gomez Polo | TKO | 2 (8) | Aug 31, 1991 | |||
| 22 | Win | 22–0 | James Pipps | TKO | 4 (10), | Jul 23, 1991 | |||
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Job Walters | TKO | 6 (10) | Jun 14, 1991 | |||
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Richie Foster | KO | 1 | May 27, 1991 | |||
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Harold Warren | UD | 10 | Mar 22, 1991 | |||
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Boualem Belkif | KO | 3 | Feb 12, 1991 | |||
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Ernesto Quintana | TKO | 1 (10), | Nov 30, 1990 | |||
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Jesse Sierra | TKO | 5 (8), | Oct 30, 1990 | |||
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Cruz Saldana | KO | 1 (8), | Sep 13, 1990 | |||
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Russell Davison | PTS | 8 | Dec 23, 1989 | |||
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Martin Mendoza | KO | 1 | Nov 30, 1989 | |||
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Fermin Rodriguez | KO | 2 | Nov 13, 1989 | |||
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Jean Pierre Dibateza | PTS | 8 | Oct 30, 1989 | |||
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Byron Chacon | TKO | 1 (6), | Aug 24, 1989 | |||
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Jose Villasenor | KO | 1, | Jul 27, 1989 | |||
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Bruce Flippins | TKO | 4 (6) | May 25, 1989 | |||
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Anthony Barela | UD | 6 | May 5, 1989 | |||
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Anthony Barela | 6 | Mar 3, 1989 | ||||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Carlos Peralta | 2 (4), | Feb 9, 1989 | ||||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Agustin Silva | TKO | 4 (4), | Dec 15, 1988 | |||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Joey King | 4 | Nov 10, 1988 | ||||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Vicente Arias | TKO | 1 (4), | Oct 27, 1988 | |||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Willie Barnes | 2 (4) | Sep 8, 1988 |