Damaen Kelly was born on 3 April 1973 and is a British former professional boxer from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who competed from 1997 to 2006.
21 Facts About Damaen Kelly
1.
2.
Damaen Kelly held the IBO flyweight title from 2000 to 2001 and the IBO super-flyweight title in 2004, and once challenged for the IBF flyweight title in 2003.
3.
At national level Damaen Kelly boxed for Ireland and won the national title five times.
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Damaen Kelly followed that bronze medal with another bronze medal at the 1996 European Championships in Vejle, Denmark.
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The bronze medal Damaen Kelly won at the European Championship in Vejle gave him automatic qualification for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, US, where he reached the quarter-finals.
6.
Damaen Kelly won his first seven fights, five by KO, before he had a chance to fight for his first title in December 1998 when he challenged Alfonso Zvenyika Lambarda for his Commonwealth flyweight title in Chester, England.
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Damaen Kelly won this fight via points decision over twelve rounds.
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Damaen Kelly's next fight was against British flyweight champion Anthony Hana in March 1999.
9.
Damaen Kelly defeated Hana via PTS to add the British title to his Commonwealth belt.
10.
Damaen Kelly next fought Keith Knox, who had been knocked out by Lambarda earlier in 1998.
11.
Damaen Kelly was leading on points when the fight was stopped in the sixth round due to cuts.
12.
Damaen Kelly had a number of cuts to his hairline and a bad cut above his right eye when the referee stopped the fight sending Damaen Kelly to suffer his first defeat as a professional.
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Damaen Kelly returned to the ring five months later and won the WBC International super-flyweight title against Igor Gerassimov.
14.
Damaen Kelly quickly added the European flyweight title in February 2000 and the IBO flyweight title in September 2000.
15.
Damaen Kelly's winning streak continued with a further addition to his record when he added the lightly regarded WBF flyweight title in May 2002.
16.
Damaen Kelly was a major underdog going into the fight as Pacheco was highly rated and as, with the exception of a fight against Mike Thomas in the US in 1998, Damaen Kelly had never fought as a professional outside Ireland and Britain.
17.
Damaen Kelly was knocked to the floor three times in round six before the fight was stopped in round seven.
18.
Damaen Kelly again returned to boxing, now under the guidance of Tommy Gilmour to rebuild his career.
19.
Damaen Kelly was attempting to become the first Irishman to capture the European bantamweight title and the first Irish fighter to win the European title at two different weights.
20.
Maludrottu was the naturally bigger man and carried more power, having fought at bantamweight for the majority of his career, however Damaen Kelly possessed the faster hands and higher technical ability.
21.
Punch stats showed that Damaen Kelly landed 155 punches while Maludrottu landed only 87, with the vast majority of onlookers believed that Damaen Kelly had won a fairly comfortable decision, but the Sardinian was given the verdict by all three judges.