Kennedy McKinney
Kennedy McKinney | ||||||||||||||
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Statistics | ||||||||||||||
Nickname(s) | King | |||||||||||||
Weight(s) | Super bantamweight | |||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) | |||||||||||||
Reach | 68 in (173 cm) | |||||||||||||
Nationality | American | |||||||||||||
Born | Hernando, Mississippi, USA | January 10, 1966|||||||||||||
Stance | Orthodox | |||||||||||||
Boxing record | ||||||||||||||
Total fights | 43 | |||||||||||||
Wins | 36 | |||||||||||||
Wins by KO | 19 | |||||||||||||
Losses | 6 | |||||||||||||
Draws | 1 | |||||||||||||
Medal record
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Kennedy McKinney (born January 10, 1966) is an American former professional boxer, who won the bantamweight gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics. As a professional, he won the IBF and WBO super bantamweight titles.
Military service[]
McKinney took up boxing while serving in the U.S. Army, private first class stationed at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.
Amateur career[]
- 1985 2nd place at United States Amateur Championships as a Flyweight, was stopped by Arthur Johnson
- 1986 2nd place at United States Amateur Championships as a Flyweight, losing by decision to Arthur Johnson
- 1987 3rd place at United States Amateur Championships as a Bantamweight, losing by decision to Michael Collins
- 1988 2nd place at United States Amateur Championships as a Bantamweight, losing by decision to
- Prior to the 1988 Olympics had several international duals where he fought Alexei Artemiev of the Soviet Union, Rene Breitbarth of East Germany, Aleksandar Hristov of Bulgaria and Byun Jung-il of South Korea, to whom he lost.[1]
- 1988 qualified as a Bantamweight for the United States Olympic Team, avenging previous defeats versus Michael Collins, whom he beat three times and Jemal Hinton, all by decision.
- Won the Bantamweight Olympic Gold Medal at the Seoul Olympic Games. Results were:
- Defeated Erick Perez (Guatemala) TKO 1
- Defeated Shahuraj Birajdor (India) forfeit
- Defeated Steve Mwema (Kenya) points
- Defeated Phajol Moolsan (Thailand) TKO 1
- Defeated Aleksandar Hristov (Bulgaria) points
McKinney claimed an amateur record of 214 wins, 13 losses.
Professional career[]
Known as "King", McKinney was a cautious yet exciting junior featherweight (super bantamweight) fighter who captured the IBF title by beating Welcome Ncita in 1992 in a spectacular bout that saw him staggered and taking a standing eight count before knocking the African cold with a perfect right hand.
After five defenses, among others a KO over Rudy Zavala and a points win over Ncita, he lost his belt to future star Vuyani Bungu, a fight which was deemed 1994 Upset of the Year by Ring Magazine.
Two years later he challenged undefeated Marco Antonio Barrera for the WBO super bantamweight title, a vicious battle in which he dropped Barrera in the 11th, but lost via TKO in the 12th. McKinney later took a rematch against Bungu, but lost a narrow split decision. Later that year, he did battle with Junior Jones who had upset Barrera in an exciting war, one which McKinney won via TKO.
McKinney then moved up a weight class to challenge Luisito Espinosa for the WBC featherweight title in 1998. Espinosa made quick work of McKinney, winning via a 2nd-round TKO.
After the loss to Espinosa, McKinney quickly lost steam. He would fight only five more times against scattered and limited opposition, three of which took place during a brief comeback run in 2002-03.
Life after boxing[]
Kennedy now resides in Olive Branch, Mississippi, where he is simply known as "Coach McKinney". He is the Head Boxing Coach at the Prize Fight Gym in Southaven, Mississippi.
References[]
- ^ Boxers Rise From Swamp By Dave Nightingale, St Louis Sporting News, October 10, 1988.
- Boxing record for Kennedy McKinney from BoxRec
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Kennedy McKinney". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020.
- 1966 births
- African-American boxers
- Living people
- Boxers from Mississippi
- Bantamweight boxers
- Boxers at the 1988 Summer Olympics
- Olympic boxers of the United States
- Olympic gold medalists for the United States in boxing
- People from Hernando, Mississippi
- International Boxing Federation champions
- World Boxing Organization champions
- American male boxers
- Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics
- People from Olive Branch, Mississippi
- United States Army soldiers
- 21st-century African-American people
- 20th-century African-American sportspeople