Eric Kelly (boxer)

Last updated
Eric Kelly
Born
Eric Lamar Kelly

(1980-09-20) September 20, 1980 (age 44)
Titusville, Florida, United States
Statistics
Weight(s)Middleweight
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Wins104
Losses14
Website http://erickellylife.com

Eric Lamar Kelly (born September 20, 1980) is a former four-time national boxing champion, [1] former member of the U.S. Olympic Boxing team, a viral video star, celebrity trainer, sports correspondent, and brand ambassador.

Contents

Early life and education

Kelly was born in Titusville, Florida and moved to the Bed-Stuy section of Brooklyn, New York as a child with his father and graduated from the now-defunct Thomas Jefferson High School. Kelly attended the United States Olympic Education Center (USOEC) on the campus of Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan. [2]

Boxing career

Encouraged into boxing by his father, Kelly trained at the New Bed-Stuy Boxing Center under George Washington, Harry Keitt & Dylan “Blimp” Parsley Sr., and at Gleason's under the tutelage of Hector Rocca, under whom he won his 1st national title at 16. [3]

Kelly achieved success as 1997 Junior Olympic Boxing Champion, 1998 USA Boxing Under-19 National Champion, 1998 National Golden Gloves bronze medalist, and 1999 American Boxing Classic Champion. He was a two-time New York Daily News Golden Glove Champion, and the 2000 National Golden Glove Champion. [4] In 2000 he was named an alternate for the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team at the Sydney Games. In 2001, ranked number one in the country, Kelly lost in the finals of the U.S. Amateur Boxing Championship in 2001 to Andre Ward. [5] Ward, then unranked, would go on to earn a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Eye injury

While training at the USOEC, Kelly suffered nerve damage to his left eyelid after being hit in the face with a pool cue during a bar fight. The injury effectively ended his boxing career. [6]

Boxing trainer

After becoming a father and working a series of blue-collar jobs, Kelly began cold-calling various boxing gyms and was offered a spot as a trainer at Church Street Boxing Gym. [7] Kelly’s aggressive and blunt style, often berating the white-collared clients he was working out, was captured and distributed in video form produced and published by Animal New York. [8]

The success of the video lead Kelly to sign with talent agency William Morris, [9] and media appearances including one on Comedy Central’s Daily Show. [10]

As the video amassed views, Kelly’s clientele began to include not just Wall Street businessmen, but celebrities as well. Famous clients include rapper Pusha-T, football player Brandon Marshall, [11] political pundit Meghan McCain, Roots musician Black Thought.

Since Church Street, Kelly has trained at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn’s DUMBO section.

In summer 2017, Kelly opened SouthBoX by Eric Kelly [12] in the South Bronx’s Mott Haven section. The gym is seen as a part of the area’s ongoing, and sometimes controversial, gentrification. [13]

Kelly is MMA competitor Oluwale Bamgbose's boxing coach and debuted in the fighter's corner for his December 16, 2017 bout at UFC on Fox 26. [14]

Work in media

Kelly is a video correspondent for VICE Sports. In a series of pieces, Kelly is put into unique situations including eating hot dogs with competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi, serving as working media at MLB’s All-Star Game, and tailgating at a NASCAR race. [15]

In 2016 Kelly began covering boxing and pop culture, both editorially and on a podcast, at TheOutsideGame.com, part of the FanSided network. [16]

Commercial work

Kelly has served as a brand ambassador and Combat Training Coach with Reebok, [17] and works with apparel company RVCA. In 2016 he appeared in a Powerade commercial starring 2016 Olympic gold medalist Shakur Stevenson. [18] In January 2021 Kelly appeared briefly in the music video "Dragon Fire" for the Hip Hop artist R.A the Rugged Man alongside members of Wu-tang Clans Ghostface Killah, Masta Killa and Hip Hop pioneer Kool G Rap. [19]

Acting

Kelly had a supporting role as assistant boxing trainer in Jack Hutson's 2023 film Day of the Fight alongside Ron Perlman, Joe Pesci and Michael Pitt. [20] Pitt has been a client of Kelly's since 2009.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Gloves</span> Annual competitions for amateur boxing

The Golden Gloves of America is an organization that promotes annual competitions of amateur boxing in the United States, in which winners are awarded a belt and a ring, and the title of national champion. The organization currently owns 30 franchises. Hundreds of administrators, coaches, trainers and counselors participate, involving gyms and programs in local and regional tournaments throughout the United States and in a National Tournament of Champions each year. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the National Golden Gloves competition, but can also represent several other amateur tournaments, including regional and state tournaments, such as the Chicago Golden Gloves, and the New York Golden Gloves, and the Rocky Mountain Golden Gloves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riddick Bowe</span> American boxer (born 1967)

Riddick Lamont Bowe is an American former professional boxer and professional kickboxer who competed between 1989 and 2008 in boxing, and from 2013 to 2016 in kickboxing. He held the undisputed world heavyweight championship in 1992, and won the super heavyweight silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cus D'Amato</span> American boxing trainer (1908–1985)

Constantine "Cus" D'Amato was an American boxing manager and trainer who handled the careers of Mike Tyson, Floyd Patterson, and José Torres, all of whom went on to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Several successful boxing trainers, including Teddy Atlas and Kevin Rooney, were tutored by D'Amato. He was a proponent of the peek-a-boo style of boxing, in which the fighter holds his gloves close to his cheeks and pulls his arms tight against his torso, which was criticized by some because it was believed that an efficient attack could not be launched from using the technique.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Bentt</span> American boxer

Michael Bentt is an American film and television actor, and former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 1994. He was born in East Dulwich, London, but raised in the Cambria Heights section of Queens in New York City. Bentt won the WBO heavyweight title from Tommy Morrison in 1993, losing the title in his first defense in 1994 to Herbie Hide.

Alex Ramos is a former middleweight boxer from the 1980s. A native of Manhattan, New York, whose parents were from Puerto Rico, Ramos won four Golden Gloves titles in New York City in the late 1970s (1977–1980) and was on the USA Boxing team from 1978 to 1980. Ramos was nicknamed "The Bronx Bomber" after Joe Louis, whose nickname was "The Brown Bomber".

Edgar L. "Bud" Bruner was an American boxing manager, trainer, and gym proprietor from Louisville, Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Breland</span> American boxer (born 1963)

Mark Anthony Breland is an American boxing trainer. As an amateur, he was a Gold Medal winner at the 1984 Summer Olympics, with a 110-1 record as an amateur and is regarded among the greatest amateur fighters ever. He competed as a professional from 1984 to 1997, and held the WBA welterweight title twice between 1987 and 1990. He later became an actor with a wide range of movie and television credits, having made his debut in The Lords of Discipline, and also appeared in the music video for The Pointer Sisters' 1985 hit single, "Dare Me".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitch Green</span> American boxer (born 1957)

Mitch Green is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 2005. He is best known for having gone the distance with Mike Tyson in 1986, who was undefeated at the time. Two years later, in 1988, Green ended up fighting Tyson again in a notorious street brawl. A toothpick dangling between his lips became his trademark at any public appearance.

Timothy Austin is an American former professional boxer. He is now a coach at the Cincinnati Golden Gloves gym in Cincinnati.

Aaron Davis is a former professional boxer who held the WBA welterweight title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe E. Martin</span> American boxing coach

Joe Elsby Martin Sr., was an American boxing coach who trained two world heavyweight champions, Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Ellis, as well as several national Golden Gloves champions.

Danny Santiago is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2016. He challenged three times for a light heavyweight world title: the WBO title in January 2007, the IBO title in December 2007, and the WBA/IBA titles in 2011.

Jesse Benavides is an American former professional boxer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sechew Powell</span> American boxer

Sechew Powell is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2002 to 2014 and challenged for the IBF junior middleweight title in 2011.

Luis Resto is a Puerto Rican former boxer based in The Bronx, New York, who was convicted of assault and conspiracy for his part in a cheating scandal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curt McCune</span> American boxer

Curt McCune is an American former amateur boxer, who was a four-time State of Alabama amateur boxing champion, in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions and the 1994 International Law Enforcement Games Boxing Champion at 193 lbs. McCune is currently a private coach and trainer for amateur and professional boxers in the Birmingham, Alabama area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frankie Gómez</span> American boxer

Jesús Francisco "Frankie" Gómez is an American former professional boxer. In 2010, Gómez signed with Oscar De La Hoya's company Golden Boy Promotions. Frankie was trained by five-time Trainer of the Year Freddie Roach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Kozlowski</span> Russian-American Boxing Coach

Michael Kozlowski is a Russian-American boxing manager and trainer of Russian, Israeli, Panamanian, Chilean, and US champions, who handled the careers of Yuri Foreman, Jill Emery, Luke Campbell, Egor Plevako, Roman Greenberg. Kozlowski was the first trainer to bring Russian-Olympic boxing style to America.

Oluwale Bamgbose is a Nigerian-American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Rayonta Whitfield is an American professional boxer from Augusta, Georgia.

References

  1. ↑ Jauregui, Andres (2012-05-18). "Eric Kelly, Foul-Mouthed Boxing Coach, Trains 'A Bunch Of F***ing Nerds' From Wall Street (VIDEO)". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  2. ↑ Lowe, Jaime (2017-08-17). "The South Bronx Boxing Gym at the Center of Gentrification". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  3. ↑ "IN THE RING - Eric Kelly Life". Eric Kelly Life. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  4. ↑ "Official Golden Gloves of America Website". www.goldengloves.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-02. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  5. ↑ "ESPN.com: BOXING - Unranked middleweight Ward wins title at U.S. Amateurs". a.espncdn.com. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  6. ↑ Ufford, Matt (2012-05-18). "'F**king Nerds': Eric Kelly Is The Most Hilariously Abusive Boxing Coach". SBNation.com. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  7. ↑ ago, FanSided7 months (2017-01-13). "How Boxer Eric Kelly Became One of the Most Notorious Trainers in New York City". FanSided. Retrieved 2017-08-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ "Weak Men Pay This Boxing Coach To Tell Them They Are Terrible - ANIMAL". ANIMAL. 2012-05-17. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  9. ↑ Butler, Brin-Jonathan (2015-06-09). The Domino Diaries: My Decade Boxing with Olympic Champions and Chasing Hemingway's Ghost in the Last Days of Castro's Cuba. Macmillan. ISBN   9781250043702.
  10. ↑ "Videos: The Daily Show On Citi Bike, "A Lot Of People Are Going To Die"". Gothamist. Archived from the original on 2015-04-08. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  11. ↑ "Former boxing champ Eric Kelly talks regaining success after losing it all". Kulture Hub. 2017-08-21. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  12. ↑ "Home". SouthBoX. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  13. ↑ Lowe, Jaime (2017-08-17). "The South Bronx Boxing Gym at the Center of Gentrification". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  14. ↑ "Eric Kelly cornering UFC's Oluwale Bamgbose on Saturday". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 2018-02-07.
  15. ↑ "Eric Kelly". Sports. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  16. ↑ "Eric Kelly". FanSided. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  17. ↑ "The Fierce Physique Boxing Workout for a Knockout Body And Attitude". Shape Magazine. 2016-11-28. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  18. ↑ sandbjerg (2016-08-07), Powerade | NEW commercial aug. 2016 (Shakur Stevenson - The Corner) , retrieved 2017-08-28
  19. ↑ R.A. the Rugged Man: Dragon Fire (Short, Action), The Circus Bazaar Company, 2022-03-15, retrieved 2022-12-15
  20. ↑ "Eric Kelly | Actor". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.