Kevin Kelley Questions/Thoughts

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by Russell, Dec 18, 2017.


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  1. Russell

    Russell Loyal Member Full Member

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    Just how good was he, in your opinion? Does he at least have the claim of being one of the most exciting fighters of the past 30 years? He was certainly in quite a few very good fights.

    He seems to of been one of the first fighters that HBO really started to seriously hype via their media machine. His 41-0 record at the time of his first loss was a bit fluffed up and not quite indicative of how good he was, in my opinion.

    But he was a pretty solid fighter, though just not quite elite it seemed. Some durability/defense issues... he was also very prone to fight altering facial damage. But man, about as scrappy as you're going to get for a modern fighter. An easy fighter to like.

    He also had a late career win over the then young Humberto Soto (23 years old) when Kelley was 35 with almost 60 fights behind him. A win that has aged pretty well all things considered.

    So, thoughts?
     
    Russell, Dec 18, 2017
    Russell, Dec 18, 2017
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  2. The Long Count

    The Long Count Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    I always enjoyed the flushing flash a product of Queens and a very good amateur from Ny. Exciting fight and in many ways exposed Hamed in his first fight in America. A fight HEAVILY promoted in NYC by hbo.
    The Soto win pre-prime Soto has aged nicely and his comeback in the first Derrick "smoke" Gainor fight was akin to any Gatti comeback. Gainor was hyped and a Friend of Roy Jones who backed him. Kelly wasn't supposed to win that fight.
    Yeah his resume was padded and he came up short against the big names but he had an exciting career. If he could of finished Hamed he would of had a great signature win and be viewed differently.
     
    The Long Count, Dec 18, 2017
    The Long Count, Dec 18, 2017
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  3. BEATDOWNZ

    BEATDOWNZ Boxing Addict banned Full Member

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    His fight with Hamed is one of the best wars of all time, IMHO.
     
    BEATDOWNZ, Dec 19, 2017
    BEATDOWNZ, Dec 19, 2017
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  4. 5016

    5016 Member Full Member

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    I don't think he exposed Hamed except to prove how good Hamed was. Kelley was a class fighter and you had to be good to beat him. Up to that point, he was the best fighter Hamed had faced.

    A guy I know faced Hamed in one of Hamed's first 10 fights. This guy had gone 0-8-2 in his last ten. Ouch! Peter Buckley took Hamed the distance not long before though, that guy knew what he was doing no matter how bad his record looks like. Buckley was a miniature Marion Wilson.
     
    5016, Dec 19, 2017
    5016, Dec 19, 2017
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  5. Russell

    Russell Loyal Member Full Member

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    Not enough heavy artillery landed in that one to qualify it for being an all time great war, in my opinion. Kelley really folded after relatively little punishment.
     
    Russell, Dec 19, 2017
    Russell, Dec 19, 2017
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  6. BEATDOWNZ

    BEATDOWNZ Boxing Addict banned Full Member

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    Apart from dropping Naz more times in one fight than anybody ever? Ok...
     
    BEATDOWNZ, Dec 22, 2017
    BEATDOWNZ, Dec 22, 2017
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  7. Russell

    Russell Loyal Member Full Member

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    Naz was so easy to hit you almost can't get excited about it past a certain point. :eek:
     
    Russell, Dec 22, 2017
    Russell, Dec 22, 2017
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  8. BEATDOWNZ

    BEATDOWNZ Boxing Addict banned Full Member

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    Except nobody he faced did that to him up until then...

    If someone was short on time and wanted to watch a quick fire war then I'd show them that.
     
    BEATDOWNZ, Dec 22, 2017
    BEATDOWNZ, Dec 22, 2017
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  9. Russell

    Russell Loyal Member Full Member

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    I think it's a really good/entertaining fight, don't get me wrong. I just see it as a fun fight as opposed to one of the blood and guts wars of Chacon, Limon, or Matthew Saad.
     
    Russell, Dec 22, 2017
    Russell, Dec 22, 2017
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  10. BEATDOWNZ

    BEATDOWNZ Boxing Addict banned Full Member

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    Point taken, Russ. ;-)
     
    BEATDOWNZ, Dec 22, 2017
    BEATDOWNZ, Dec 22, 2017
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  11. Russell

    Russell Loyal Member Full Member

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    Happy holidays sir :cool:
     
    Russell, Dec 22, 2017
    Russell, Dec 22, 2017
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  12. BEATDOWNZ

    BEATDOWNZ Boxing Addict banned Full Member

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    Happy Holidays to you too, sir! :)
     
    BEATDOWNZ, Dec 24, 2017
    BEATDOWNZ, Dec 24, 2017
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  13. The Funny Man 7

    The Funny Man 7 Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Crisp, stylish southpaw with venom in his fists. He did hit hard, but he believed he hit harder than he really did (I would surmise) which led him to take risks that got him in trouble at times.
     
    The Funny Man 7, Dec 24, 2017
    The Funny Man 7, Dec 24, 2017
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  14. Russell

    Russell Loyal Member Full Member

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    Good post, thank you.

    Where do you rank him ability/skill/power wise? Love to hear some more thoughts on Kelley from guys who saw him come up.
     
    Russell, Dec 28, 2017
    Russell, Dec 28, 2017
    #14
  15. Russell

    Russell Loyal Member Full Member

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    Been watching some more early career Kevin Kelley stuff, so I figured I'd share. Here's a very young Kelley with a great piece about himself as a person as opposed to just a fighter before the fight. Actually pretty interesting stuff. Worth noting that Kelley continued to be an "intellect" (in his own words) years after retiring, becoming a long time commentator, and quite a good one at that.

    Here he is against James Pips, who despite a very pretty looking record of 39-2 is a pretty obscure name. But, he himself had an interesting story!

    This content is protected
     
    Russell, Dec 31, 2017
    Russell, Dec 31, 2017
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