Born in
Belfast, Kelly first had success as an amateur. He finished as runner-up in the Irish bantamweight final and went on to win a silver medal at the
European Amateur Boxing Championships in
Milan in May 1951. He made his professional debut in December 1951 with a win over Peter Morrison. He had 13 fights in 1952, all of them wins, including a points victory over
Hogan Bassey. He was still unbeaten by June 1953, when he faced
Bunty Doran at the
Ulster Hall, Belfast for the Irish bantamweight title and the
BBBofC Northern Ireland Area title. Kelly stopped Doran in the eleventh round to take both titles. His next fight came in October 1953, when he challenged for
Peter Keenan's British and European titles at the
King's Hall, Belfast. The fight went the full 15 rounds, with Kelly getting the decision. He beat
Jean Kidy in November, before defending his European title in February 1954 against French champion
Robert Cohen, the fight delayed by a month due to a shoulder injury to Cohen. Cohen knocked Kelly down five times in the second round, and after a further knockdown in the third, Kelly's corner threw in the towel. In September he defended his British title against Keenan; Keenan knocked him out in the sixth round to regain the title. but in August was knocked out in the first round by Teddy Peckham. Kelly returned in 1957 with an eighth round knockout of Teddy Barker, but this proved to be his final fight. Kelly died on 29 December 2016, aged 84. ==References==