I have seen a few Kevin Kelley fights, unfortunately only 2 of them he won. These are the fights I've seen:

Kevin Kelley-Alejandro Gonzales
Kevin Kelley-Derrick Gainer I and II
Kevin Kelley-Morales
Kevin Kelley-Barrera
Kevin Kelley-Naseem Hamed
Kevin Kelley-Some nobody on MSG sports
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From what I see from these fights are that he was a brawler with a somewhat shaky chin but who had tremendous heart and determination. I saw the near comeback against Gonzales and the come from behind Arturo Gatti-esque KO of Gainer and was impressed. What was he like in his prime? Was he one of the great featherweights in history?

I have seen a few Kevin Kelley fights, unfortunately only 2 of them he won. These are the fights I've seen:

Kevin Kelley-Alejandro Gonzales
Kevin Kelley-Derrick Gainer I and II
Kevin Kelley-Morales
Kevin Kelley-Barrera
Kevin Kelley-Naseem Hamed
Kevin Kelley-Some nobody on MSG sports
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From what I see from these fights are that he was a brawler with a somewhat shaky chin but who had tremendous heart and determination. I saw the near comeback against Gonzales and the come from behind Arturo Gatti-esque KO of Gainer and was impressed. What was he like in his prime? Was he one of the great featherweights in history?I've had the same question myself, his chin was his main enemy(I've seen some of his fights where everything was going his way and once his whiskers got tapped, it changed everything). I think in his prime, he could've definitely made it alot more competitive w/ the likes of Hamed, M.A.B, and Terrible and quite possible beating 1 or 2 out of the 3.

He was hungry in the early part of his career, then when he started making money, he wasn't quite as slick. I have seen many of his fights, he is a fighter that fought up to the challenge. He made the easy fights harder than they should have been. I think he did well against Hamed before they stopped it. I really think that was one of his best performances.

He was good a southpaw with some pop. He was always in control in the fight. I wouldn't say he was great but a good fighter that was in a bad time.

In his early years he was so fast. He was always exciting, but initially he was a boxer,puncher. He didn't seem to control fights very well and ended up brawling alot. He had a good punch, but his chin was average(not glass). He wanted to be an exciting fighter and I think this caused him to lose a lot of fights because he was such a good boxer but neglected to box when he should have. He was good, but not great.

He was looking to come back into the spotlight against el Terrible but it didnt work out for him. Against Barrera he basically went in there for a paycheck, much like Ayala did.