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November 1997
Each month we bring you a selection of articles from the current and past issues of BOXING MONTHLY. To buy the magazine, see our subscription or back issues pages, or use our world distribution map to find a news-stand copy. Why not use our Interactive Forum to express your own boxing comments and opinions!
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THE X-FACTOR
After 50 fights we're still none the wiser about former WBC featherweight champ Kevin Kelley. STEVE FARHOOD, the latest big-name addition to BM's reporting team, sheds some light on the fighter who will face Prince Naseem Hamed on the Prince's American debut in December |
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BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY: Kelley has adopted one of Malcolm X's philosophies
in his attempt to get what he believes he is due from the game and provide a
secure future for his family
- Get Big Pic
Of the featherweights in question, he's the mystery. You know how those damn southpaws can be: Try and figure them out and instead of answers, all you get are headaches. He's slick and quick and as smart as any professor of pugilism you might choose to name, but just when you've decided he's a boxer, he'll take his man out with a single punch. Conversely, his collection of one-punch knockouts belies his hit-and-not-be-hit approach.
He's a charmer who, should his fists fail him, can always talk his way out of trouble. He's a bit short by his division's standards, but don't waste your time trying to beat him with a jab. He was an exceptional amateur who continues to rely on the strength of a lengthy relationship with his trainer. He's world-class all the way, yet insiders still can't seem to decide what to make of him. Make no mistake: In December, when he engages in one of the biggest fights of the year, he, and not his foe, will be the X-factor.
Naseem Hamed? I'm talking about Kevin Kelley.
I've known Kelley from the start - I was ringside for his pro debut - so I was stunned when his manager, Tom Loeffler of Mouthpiece Productions, indicated an interview might be a problem to arrange. "Kevin is sick of the attention the American media has paid Hamed," Loeffler explained. "I don't know if he'll talk."
A lock on Kevin Kelley's lips? You're more likely to find Dennis Rodman in a monastery. When I finally got Kelley on the phone, a few days after he had returned from England, where he had watched Hamed stop Jose Badillo in the seventh round of a World Boxing Organisation featherweight title defence at Sheffield, he began by stating: "No questions about Naseem." Then he spent the better part of the next hour talking about the Prince who would be King.
But I wanted Kelley to focus on Kelley, a fighter who's harder to figure than a Rubik's Cube. It may seem strange, but as their December date approaches, we know more about Hamed than Kelley, a veteran of 50 pro starts. Is the 30-year-old New Yorker nearing the finish? Or does he remain one of the best fighters in the lighter weights? Will he be a legitimate test for Hamed? Or, as was the case with Tom Johnson, is the Prince fighting the right name at the right time?
There would be, however, no categorising this fighter. When he finally fought for a world title, in December '93 against the feared Goyo Vargas, Kelley reached for the paintbrush. In fact, his performance over the first six rounds of what would turn out to be a 12-round decision victory was as fine a display of boxing as I've seen this decade. Kelley hasn't come close to matching it since. He may need to do so in December.
After defences against fellow left-hander Jesse Benavides (W12) and Jose Vida Ramos (KO2), Kelley began a tailspin that left him a virtual wreck. "1995 was a total disaster," he recalled. "Starting with the [Alejandro] Gonzalez fight, nothing went right. My brain shut down, I went blank. When the opening bell would ring, I wouldn't know how to fight anymore.
"I had a lot of self-doubt, and in '95, my toughest fight was against Kevin Kelley. But at the same time I knew I was still good because I had already done it, I had won the title and beaten world-class guys. And I knew deterioration is slow; it doesn't happen overnight. I just didn't know how to get it back."
After his right eye swelled shut in a gutsy title-losing effort vs. Gonzalez, Kelley's career got even fuzzier than his vision. He rose from the floor to score a desperation knockout of unknown Puerto Rican Ricardo Rivera, suffered another knockdown in a two-round technical draw vs. Tommy Parks, and sleepwalked through a dreadfully dull 12-round draw vs. Bones Adams. Whether boxing or slugging, Kelley was sagging. "My problem," he said, "was that I was trying to make everybody else happy. It even said so on my robe: 'Doin' it for the people.' I had to learn to satisfy myself."
Like a good fight, any good story includes more than one turnaround, and Kelley's resurrection began early in 1996. "I had just bought a home, I was finally seeing some money, and I knew it was time to find out whether I still had it," he said. "I brought in Joe Davis, a fighter from the '50s who had trained my trainer, Phil Borgia, and showed him a tape of my fight against James Pipps [a KO victory in 1991]. I said to him: 'I need you to make me look like that again. Can you do it?' He said yes, and a short time later, I got a call to fight Louie Espinoza. At first I said no: Louie was one of the biggest punchers in the division and I wanted to start my comeback more cautiously. But my wife said: 'Trust me. Take the fight.'
"I'm still with Phil, but Joe took me back to the basics, jabbing, being quick. He reminded me how to box again. I was always trying to get better instead of leaving myself the hell alone. Joe wanted me to go backwards."
Fast-forward: Kelley's undefeated in five fights since, with no easy touches along the way. As usual, he's won in every way imaginable. He easily outboxed the slower Espinoza, then slugged it out with fellow contender Derrick Gainer in one of 1996's most exciting fights. Overcoming a knockdown and another closed right eye, he finished the southpaw speedster in the eighth. Next came a safety-first decision over Edwin Santana, who had been unbeaten in 25 fights.
In his two bouts this year, Kelley has reminded us that in December, Hamed won't be the only powerpuncher in the ring. In March, Kelley downed former world champion Jesus Salud, who had previously been dropped once in a 62-bout career, en route to a 12-round points win, and in July, he finished steel-chinned Puerto Rican Orlando Fernandez with a single left hand in round 10.
After disposing of Fernandez, Kelley called for Hamed. The call has been answered, with Hamed agreeing to battle on Kelley's turf. "I'm never the one in the driver's seat," Kelley said. "He's coming here, but you think I'm the one in the driver's seat? Hey, he's the one with the HBO contract.
"I look at it this way: I'm a guy who hasn't gotten his. When you have to wait so long for what you want, when it comes, you don't want it anymore. My hope has become anger. I'm just supporting my family now, and like Malcolm X said: `By any means necessary.' I'm just as hungry as the day I got into this game."
But is he just as good? His bold talk aside, there remains a doubt as to whether Kelley remains capable of competing with a young, rising force like Hamed. Kelley says he's mentally stronger than ever and has made no physical concessions to age. There's a tendency to think of him as somewhat worn and faded, but is that fair? After all, he's lost just once in 50 fights (47-1-2 with 32 KOs). Maybe a handful of easy wins along the way might've helped the cause, but scan Kelley's fight-by-fight record since he first emerged as a contender and you'll find only two or three.
"I don't know if this is a case of the fight being made a year too late for Kevin," said Top Rank's Ron Katz, who made Kelley's matches in '95 and '96. "Kevin seems to rise and fall to the level of his competition. With Hamed, though, it's a different ballgame. But remember, it's a big step up for Hamed, too. Kevin's still a pretty damn good fighter, and by far the best fighter Hamed has faced.
"Hamed has a lot of ability, but ultimately, the answers won't be given until he has to reach down for a gut-check, until he has to show mental toughness. It's hard to say whether Kelley will be that fight. I would like to have seen the fight a year ago. Now it's up to Kevin to rise. But no matter what happens, Hamed will know he's been in a fight."
For his part, Kelley doesn't seem particularly concerned. Listen to him and you'll conclude that Hamed is nothing more than a creation of the media - the American media. He dismisses virtually all of the Prince's victories, claiming Badillo has been Hamed's toughest opponent to date.
"What I've found," Kelley said, "is that the writers are writing different things than what people are saying. The writers have been building this guy up, but on the street, people are saying to me: `We can't understand why he's getting more play than you.' Hamed is arrogant and cocky, but it's hard telling him he's doing something wrong when he's got $28-million.
Kelley questions not only Hamed's ability, but his marketability. "He's an original, but only in England," he said. "When I look at him, all I see is somebody who has borrowed everything from Americans. All he's done is gotten good at doing what we've already done. He's a copycat. He's stealing Camacho's trunks, Ali's predictions, Whitaker's moves, and dance steps from the WWF [World Wrestling Federation]. No one's ever said I was like anyone else. I'll beat him just by being Kevin Kelley."
Which, I suppose, brings us full-circle. Hamed is good; even the non-believers on the red-white-and-blue side of the pond have acknowledged that much. But just how good was Kelley? And more importantly, just how good is he now? Damn southpaw. Even after 50 fights, he remains a puzzle.
Seems like we need Hamed to help fill in the blanks. |
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