FORMER Irish, British and European bantamweight champion John Kelly passed away on Thursday.
The teak-tough Belfast fighter, who thrilled packed houses at the Ulster Hall and King’s Hall during a distinguished career that began with 21 straight wins, had not enjoyed good health in recent years and died just over two weeks short of his 85th birthday.
Kelly, who will be laid to rest at Roselawn Cemetery on Thursday after 1pm Mass at St Malachy’s, was introduced to boxing by his elder brother at St George’s ABC in the Market area of south Belfast.
He began his professional career on December 8, 1951 by stopping Hull’s Peter Morrison at the Ulster Hall and after 19 subsequent wins he took on the legendary Eddie ‘Bunty’ Doran for the Irish bantamweight title on June 27, 1953.
Earlier in his career Doran – great-uncle of current pro Ciaran McVarnock – had traded leather with the incomparable ‘Rinty’ Monaghan and his meeting with Kelly turned out to be the last of his 101 fights.
Kelly took the title when Doran retired after 11 rounds and in his next fight – on October 3, 1953 - he took on Peter Keenan for the British and European belts and out-pointed the Glaswegian champion over 15 rounds.
Another win over Belgian Jean Kidy followed and Kelly went into 1953 unbeaten and full of confidence for the defence of his EBU title against hard-hitting Frenchman Robert Cohen in front of 20,000 people at the King’s Hall.
After a cagey opener, Kelly was put down five times in the second round and had to be hauled off the canvas and carried to his corner after the bell. Despite that, he came out for the third but Cohen continued to dominate and it took the towel being thrown in from the Belfast man’s corner to put an end to his remarkable display of bravery.
Kelly’s career went into decline after the defeat and he lost his British title in a rematch with Keenan, but bowed out with a win in the last of his 28 contests on May 25, 1957.
“He boxed out of St George’s as an amateur,” recalled his son Davey yesterday.
“His big brother Paddy took him down to St George’s when he was a young fella. Paddy was two years older than him and he took him down, I think my father started boxing when he was about seven or eight.
“They wouldn’t let him into the ring before that but the boys used to get down on their knees and let him punch away at them. He just got the love of boxing then because of the boys that were there showing him different moves.
“He got a taste for it and of course he progressed on and turned professional. He used to tell us about all his fights. We were always proud of him and I used to do a bit of sparring with him and get the gloves on up the stairs on a Sunday afternoon.
“He would have put manners on you surely, but he wasn’t too bad.”
