WBO World Featherweight title

Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, USA

19 December 1997

One of the most exciting, explosive and incident-packed world title fights in any weight division that I have witnessed has to be when Sheffield’s Naseem Hamed defended his WBO world featherweight title against the ‘Flushing Flash’ Kevin Kelley at the Mecca of boxing: Madison Square Garden. This contest pitted two supremely confident hard-hitting world class fighters against each other. This one needed no hype as both men excelled at ‘trash talking’ as much as they did at boxing.

The 11,954 spectators at the Garden as well as the millions watching on both sides of the Atlantic on HBO and Sky were treated to the boxing equivalent of a ‘Billy the Kid’ style shootout where bragging rights were decided. How many contests can boast a combined six knockdowns in eleven and a half minutes of furious action?

Watching this one at home and a Hamed supporter, I truly did not know if he was going to emerge victorious right up until the dramatic and explosive conclusion to this charged encounter. That is the measure of just how thrilling and unpredictable this contest was.

Before he met Kelley, the champion had only tasted the canvas once briefly against Daniel Alicia in an earlier WBO title defence, only to get up and blast his opponent out in the second round. Since conclusively winning the world title against Steve Robinson in September 1995 Hamed had won all of his eight title fights convincingly inside the distance. These included a chilling first round demolition of Said Lawal, an eleventh round stoppage against former champion Manuel Medina, an eighth round stoppage of IBF champion Tom Johnson and a first round blowout of domestic rival Billy Hardy. To casual fans as well as those in the industry Hamed was a prodigious talent with exceptionally fast reflexes, bags of energy and frightening knockout power.

Earlier in his career Hamed was known more for his elusiveness and his boxing prowess as much as his kayo power but lately he was becoming more of a showman who liked to crow over opponents before blasting them out. His ring entrances often lasted longer than his actual contests and it has to be said that his antics were not to everyone’s tastes.

At the time of the Kelley defence twenty three year old Hamed was at the very top of his game and hoping to make a big splash in front of the US fight fans. This was his opportunity to showcase his talents and to break into the big time. In Kevin Kelley he was meeting a highly respected 30 year old veteran of the ring and a former world champion himself.

Going in to this one Kelley was 47-1-2 with 32 wins coming inside the distance. He had been a pro for just over nine years and had ‘been there, seen it, done it.’ In 1992 he had an amazing twelve round war with Troy Dorsey taking the WBC Continental Americas title (whatever that is).

He took the WBC featherweight title from Gregorio Vargas in another twelve round points win in December of 1993 making two successful defences before losing it to Alejandro Gonzalez on a corner retirement after the tenth round in January 1995. His very next contest was an up and down thriller against Ricardo Rivera where Kelley was dropped in the second and fourth round only to emerge victorious in the ninth round. One thing Kelley did not lack was a heart.

He took the WBU featherweight title and was in yet another soul-searching slugfest against Derrick Gainer that saw Gainer down in the third, Kelley down in the fourth before Gainer was down again in the fifth and finally for the full count in the eighth. These kind of career shortening wars were becoming a feature of the popular Kelley’s career and proved that you wrote him off at your peril.

By the time he was getting ready for the Hamed fight Kelley had engaged in six contests with the WBU title at stake winning five and drawing one of them. He was arguably the Englishman’s most dangerous opponent to date and clearly believed that he had the cocky champion’s number.

Come fight time no one was expecting a chess match with gloves, yet none in the audience at the Garden or watching at home could predict just what an unbearably exciting slugfest they were about to witness.

With challenger Kelley already in the ring, Hamed set a new record for lengthy entrances by taking twelve minutes from dressing room to ring. ‘The Prince’ as he liked to be known enjoyed making elaborate entrances with plenty of razzmatazz which enthralled some and infuriated others. Not to be upstaged Kelley climbed a ring post and screamed for a dancing and gyrating Hamed to ‘Get in here now!’ which served to heighten the hysteria and the anticipation of the crowd.

Hamed did his trademark somersault into the ring and looked calm and supremely confident. Announcer Michael Buffer’s words were almost drowned out by chants of ‘Kelley! Kelley!’ from the local pro Kelley crowd. In the build-up so much attention was heaped on Hamed one almost forgot that Kelley was a native New Yorker and this was very much in his own back yard.

Both fighters were in magnificent condition (they would need to be) and weighed in on the featherweight limit of 126 pounds (nine stone). After what had seemed like an eternity the bell to finally start the contest sounded and both men wasted no time in looking for each other.

Hamed missed with an unorthodox leaping right hook. He avoided two punches from Kelley and wiggled his backside in a mocking gesture. With just under a minute of the first to go the champion found what he was looking for when he landed an impressive hook-cross-hook combination. If he expected Kelley to fall he was disappointed as the challenger responded with a hook of his own. Hamed took a step back with his hands customarily down by his sides and got nailed by a perfectly timed hook on the chin. Hamed went down but quickly jumped back to his feet in a show of bravado. Two things were now clear: Kelley was a ‘live’ opponent and far from finished and more importantly, he had the power to trouble Hamed.

Kelley took the first 10 – 8 on all three judges’ score cards and continued his success in the second round by repeatedly snapping back the champion’s head with classy single shots. This was not in the script and those in Team Hamed including promoter Frank Warren sat at ringside must have felt extreme levels of anxiety!

About forty five seconds into the second Kelley connected with a decent left hook and an off-balance Hamed’s gloves touched the canvas. Before the referee could signal a knockdown Kelley caught Hamed again this time with a right hook. Surprisingly there was no warning or penalty.

Kelley recklessly pursued the champion looking for the knockout rather than looking for openings and forcing mistakes. Because of this he left himself open and with just over a minute left in the round Kelley got nailed and dropped with a left hook which deposited him on his backside looking sheepish. Kelley smiled at Hamed and even pointed with his right glove, acknowledging the quality of the punch that felled him. Kelley, like he had on so many other occasions managed to get up and end the round.

The third saw Kelley box more as he landed left jab after left jab with impunity. It was as if he could not miss Hamed. The champion was taking more punches and punishment in this contest than all of his previous 28 fights combined. As a Hamed fan it was shocking to see him getting tagged so frequently, especially as he was renowned as much for his elusiveness as his devastating punch power. Late in the round Hamed rallied with two uppercuts but it was clearly a Kelley round.

Kelley began the fourth where he left off, landing two lefts. Hamed slowed the pace then around the halfway mark of the round exploded with a right-left-left combination. Kelley taken by surprise crashed hard on his right side. Surprisingly he easily beat the count and again raised a glove in defiance.

The next punch that landed was not from the champion but Kelley as a right hook tagged a yet again off-balance Hamed. The champion’s glove touched the canvas and this time the referee called it a knockdown. The crowd just did not know what to expect next in this see-saw thriller. Hamed answered with a fast lead left high on Kelley’s head which deposited the challenger flat on his back. Kelley managed to scramble up on all fours yet could not get up in time to beat the count. He fell into the referees arms and it was waved off with only half a minute or so of the round left.

All hostilities were soon forgotten at the contests dramatic conclusion and Hamed who must have felt tremendously relieved as well as triumphant went over and hugged Kelley. Both men showed mutual respect and sang each other’s praises. The crowd and viewers at home took a deep breath and took stock of the tremendous battle they had all witnessed: Arguably the most exciting world featherweight title fight in history. Over thirteen years on and this has to be nearly on a par with the Hagler versus Hearns war of 1985 such was the intensity and ferocity on display. You really could not tell who was going to emerge victorious right up until the very end.

Hamed fought four more times in the States and his career ended in ignominy as he was soundly beaten and outclassed by Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera at the MGM, Las Vegas in April 2001 for the vacant IBO title. That night lax preparation and believing in his own hype together with an increasing reliance on attempting to blast opponents out left him open to Barrera’s cleaner and more accurate punches. Whilst not the landslide that many have since attributed, Hamed lost clearly and unanimously on points, getting his head snapped back repeatedly and this time with no answer to a classy and un-intimidated opponent.

Much of the Hamed aura and mystique was destroyed that evening and he only came back once afterwards winning a pedestrian fight on points back in England before drifting from the boxing scene entirely. He never officially announced his retirement but it was clear the game was over. His career had been an exceptionally thrilling one while it had lasted.

For Kelley he also faced Barrera in April of 2003 in a sad night for boxing. Kelley was clearly over the hill by now and he lost in one-sided fashion, taking an unnecessary beating before being rescued in the fourth. He had lost a rematch to Derrick Gainer, was stopped in seven rounds by Erik Morales (another Mexican great) and astoundingly continued to box until 2009, losing to Bobby Pacquiao (brother of Manny) among many others. Kelley was a true warrior of the ring and had unfortunately become yet another fighter who could not resist the lure of the ring long after his best years were behind him.

But please remember these two boxers for the magic they produced one December night in New York when they were both at the top of their game. ‘The Prince versus the Flash’ they don’t come any better than that!