It has been in a while since I wrote a “Forgotten Fades” article so to those who have loved reading them, I apologize. It has been busy for us members of Ring Gang Radio within the last 12 months. However, it doesn’t mean I was not compiling a list of “Forgotten Fades”. Every now and then I would text myself a fight that I randomly thought of, come across on a YouTube mention, or see mentioned in forums/Twitter. I would say to myself that I needed to watch the fight and write something immediately. Obviously, I did not follow through like I should lol. There was one particular fight that did come across the twitter timeline (shoutout to Knockout Journals). It was on their #OnThisDay post about the Kevin Kelley vs Troy Dorsey fight. The 3-minute video highlight which was spectacular does not truly capture how great that fight was.
When Kevin Kelley’s name is brought up in boxing circles, it’s almost always regarding his 4-round shootout with Prince Naseem Hamed who was making his American debut on HBO. As classic as that fight was, I truly believe the Dorsey fight summed him up more as a fighter. Troy Dorsey, I would imagine, might ring more bells in the martial arts world as he was very accomplished in that. Being a world champion kickboxer in the 80s was nothing to scoff at. He was a very tough man. Troy made the transition to pro boxing in the mid-80s and had a bumpier road than most to success there. When his fight was made with Kelley, his pro record stood at 11-4-4. Within those 19 fights, Dorsey became a world champion in boxing. He knocked out Alfred Rangel in a round to become IBF Featherweight Champion in 1991. What the record doesn’t tell you is that 3 of the 4 fighters were either future or current world champions that Dorsey gave absolute hell in their respective fights. Tom “Boom Boom” Johnson, Jorge Paez, and Manuel Medina with the latter being the one to end Dorsey’s brief reign as champion. Kevin Kelley had a sparkling 26-0 record at the time of the fight but not necessarily the type of tough competition that he would face later on in his long career. He also held the WBC Continental Americas Featherweight title, which at the time would guarantee you a high ranking within the WBC. The stage was set on Feb 18,1992 airing on the now defunct “Tuesday Night Fights” show on the USA Network.
From the beginning of the fight, it was simply fists flying. Dorsey moved in, squared up, and in Kelley’s chest throwing everything he could with 2 hands. Kelley was moving backwards picking off Dorsey with sharp left hand counters. Dorsey seemed adamant in setting the pace of the fight, not giving Kelley any room to breathe. Dorsey didn’t have the slickness that Kelley possessed but his conditioning more than made up for it. Dorsey was also starting to muscle Kelley around as well. Kelley’s corner let him know early that he could not take too many steps back. Kelley had more success when he was able to stay off the ropes and keep Dorsey in the middle of the ring. Honestly if Dorsey did not have a chin and a strong disposition, a lesser fighter would have hit the canvas with the punches he absorbed. On the ropes is where Dorsey would have slightly more success, bullying Kelley and letting off punches to the body and head while Kelley was trying to punch in between the shots. The volume of the punches from these guys is simply incredible. By the mid rounds you notice that the pace starts to get to Kelley who is beginning to sit on the ropes without being bullied by Dorsey, trying to get a breather. Dorsey is starting to pound Kelley in certain spots without the quick counters shown by Kelley earlier in the fight. You can see the shots snapping Kelley’s head left and right which now draws the ref to look more closely. Kelley starts focusing more on the body of Dorsey hoping to slow his onslaught. The headshots don’t seem to be phasing Dorsey all too much. You can only dream of today’s featherweights throwing and landing punches like these two are doing. Dorsey’s work you can see is starting to break Kelley down. Kelley’s hands are no longer up as they were earlier in the fight but still throwing. In the later rounds, Kelley’s nose is bloodied and his eyes are swollen. You see blood coming out of Dorsey’s mouth from the punches he has taken. That didn’t stop him from landing barrages in round 10 that clearly had Kelley in trouble on 2 separate times in the round. Round 11 it was Dorsey’s turn to be in trouble where a left hand visibly wobbled him. However, as his forte, Dorsey was able to fight through it and it ended pounding Kelley on the ropes in the last 35 seconds of the round. The ref had to take a long look at Kelley as he went back to his corner. The final round was one to remember. Kelley lands a wicked double digit combination on Dorsey. Dorsey sends Kelley’s mouthpiece flying out of his mouth with a hook. Both guys had their knees buckled. By the time the final bell ended, the crowd got on their feet to acknowledge what they watched from those 2 warriors. The judges would score 116-112 x2 and 116-109 for Kevin Kelley. The crowd booed those scores and I’m not surprised. I thought the fight was closer for that. Those 2 combined to throw over 2100 punches in a 12-round fight. A master class in volume punching.
Such a fight that was!! This was definitely a coming out party for the “Flushing Flash”. Kelley would go on to pick up the WBC featherweight title defeating Gregorio Vargas in the following year, sign an HBO contract, be part of some of the lower weight’s biggest fights of the 90s to early 00’s, and remain a contender over the next 14 years. He would finally retire in 2009 following a KO loss to then red-hot prospect Vicente Escobedo. In retirement, Kelley has dabbled as a broadcast analyst maintaining a connection to boxing. He is also a co-host of a popular podcast show called “The Sucker Punch”. For Dorsey, that fight was the beginning of the end. After a rebound win, he would suffer 4 consecutive losses to the likes of Jesse James Leija, Calvin Grove, Oscar De La Hoya, and Eddie Hopson. He would make another brief return to kickboxing before making another run in boxing which saw upset and put in retirement former world title challenger Jimmie Bredahl. Consecutive KO losses to Jesus Chavez and Gabriel Ruelas brought an end to his career for good in 1998. In an excellent article from maxboxing.com (https://www.maxboxing.com/news/news/catching-up-with-former-ibf-world-featherweight-champion-troy-dorsey), Dorsey mentioned he doesn’t watch too much boxing due to the fact he missed it too much and it was hard to watch it. He also mentioned celebrating 40 years of running his karate school and gym. It is great to see both fighters doing well in their retirement. As for their fight, full recommendation to watch. It’s truly unsung and deserves more mention in boxing circles.