Kelley: Just give me a chance

Dean Juipe

Thursday, April 10, 2003 | 9:57 a.m.

Aside from being 35, Kevin Kelley has lost to Naseem Hamed and Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera has beaten them both. Consequently, few beyond Kelley himself are giving him a chance Saturday night when he faces Barrera at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Even Kelley has done the math.

"I know the whole story," he said Wednesday. "If Barrera beats Hamed and Morales and they beat Kelley, how does Kelley expect to beat Barrera?"

But he has an answer for that question and it centers on motivation and proving that bettors and experts alike are wrong.

"I'm going to clear up the whole thing," he said. "I'm a very competitive person and I've built up a hunger.

"I'm a southpaw with a reckless punch and I have hand speed that initiates power. This fight brings me full circle: It's what I needed to take myself to another level."

Kelley is a two-time former world champion who is 54-5-2 with 36 knockouts.

Barrera, 29, is 56-3 with 39 KOs.

They're scheduled for 12 rounds at 126 pounds and top a pay-per-view card that opens at 4:30 p.m. and has the main event slated for shortly after 8.

Barrera remains a staggering minus 1500 favorite in the sports book at the MGM, with Kelley a plus 1000.

"I hope everybody's right about Kelley but I'm not so sure," said Barrera's promoter, John Jackson, who doubles as a UNLV football coach. "If he didn't have skills and wasn't left-handed and hadn't been a world champion, then, yeah, maybe I'd say this fight is going to be easy.

"But he's a veteran and he's highly motivated, so I can't sell him short."

Nonetheless, this looks like an interim fight for Barrera before he tackles a tougher opponent, such as fellow Mexican and world champion Juan Manuel Marquez. Jackson wouldn't address that topic but acknowledged it's a big fight waiting to happen.

Kelley, of course, could interfere with those vague plans.

"Boxing introduces you to yourself," he said. "You learn what kind of person you are. I learned that I have certain qualities and that I need to exploit them.

"Don't know who you are? Take a few fights and you'll find out fast."

Kelley, who lives in Las Vegas, is an accomplished fighter, a gracious man and, as proven during his tenure as an analyst for HBO, a well-spoken commentator. But can he beat Barrera?

"I've been criticized for boxing too much and brawling too much," he said. "I've been called a 'shot' fighter. But if I'm a shot fighter, I talk pretty well for a shot fighter.

"I think of myself as more of an artist who uses his fists as a paintbrush."

While Kelley did lose to Hamed by fourth-round knockout, he also had the Englishman down three times. And although he lost to Morales by seventh-round knockout, he took that fight on a mere 11 days' notice.

"He shouldn't have taken that fight with Morales, so I think people should throw that one out," Jackson said. "And it was that loss that made people think that maybe he was through as a fighter."

Yet whether Kelley has slipped or not may not be relevant, given Barrera's credentials and run of exceptional victories. Hamed, Morales, Johnny Tapia ... Barrera has defeated them all within the past 24 months.

"Marco is very intelligent and professional and he's taking this fight seriously," Jackson said. "Some people close to him didn't think he should take this fight, so he picked up on those concerns."

Barrera has added a savvy and calculating approach to his repertoire and is no longer the straight-ahead slugger that marked the early portion of his career. As for whether he'll look to add Kelley to his list of knockout victories, Jackson said Barrera will make that determination after the bell rings.

"He's capable of boxing Kelley for 12 rounds or going for the knockout," he said. "I think it's something he decides after two or three rounds."

Kelley, in one of those "all due respect" things, says he won't be overwhelmed in spite of the opposition and the fact Barrera is at least 3-0 against southpaws.

"Barrera's dominating the division, but he's really not that special," he said. "I don't think he's got enough to blow me away."

Of course, maybe Kelley is just saying the right things.

"I've found when a fighter talks about losing, usually he'll lose," he said, talking about winning a fight in which he's a huge underdog.