Billy Kelly:BILLY "SPIDER" Kelly, who has died aged 78, was the greatest boxer Derry ever produced.
He was the first professional boxer in these islands to hold the same titles as his father. He won both the British and Empire featherweight championships, as his father Jimmy “Spider Kelly” had in the 1930s.
He fought in a memorable bouts in in Donnybrook bus garage in Dublin against Frances Ray Famechon. At stake was the European featherweight title and, in a decision with which not everyone agreed, the referee awarded the fight to Famechon.
Belfast was where Spider Kelly excelled. He was a favourite at the King’s Hall and the Ulster Hall in the heyday of professional boxing in the city. The Belfast crowds were discerning and respected Kelly as a master of defensive tactics.
Kelly was born in 1932 on the Lecky Road in Derry’s Bogside, the eldest of 10 children to James “Spider” Kelly, a taxi-driver and boxer, and his wife, Kathleen, nee Bradley, both Derry natives.
He went to school at St Columb’s Primary School. After leaving school at 14, he moved to Belfast to an apprenticeship as a painter and decorator.
He inherited the nickname Spider from his father, along with the love of boxing. As an amateur, he won two Ulster juvenile titles and at 18, moved to England and turned professional.
Kelly’s exploits cheered working-class Catholic Derry in tough times. Journalist Eamonn McCann remembers the excitement: “He was the great hero at a time when there was nothing much to rejoice about. He was the person everybody hitched their hopes to. His fights were followed on the radio, and are embedded in the consciousness of an older generation.”
In spring 1955, he was the number four contender for the world title. In May, he lost the disputed decision to Famechon. Six months later he lost the Empire title to Nigerian boxer Hogan “Kid” Bassey. Bassey had seemed in trouble but Kelly was knocked out when he moved in to finish the fight.
“I have only myself to blame,” he said later. “I became careless and I paid the penalty.”
Three months later, he lost the British title to Scotland’s Charlie Hill in a controversial decision.
He moved up to lightweight, but never recovered his previous glory. He retired in 1962, having fought 84 times, winning 56, losing 24 and drawing four.
Spider Kelly made no great fortune from boxing. After quitting, he went to work in the Du Pont chemical factory and lived a modest lifestyle.
He is survived by wife, Pam, sons Billy and Garry, daughters Mary, Kathleen, Siobhán and Clodagh, sisters Philomena and Nellie, brother Tony, 15 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren
William “Spider” Kelly: born April 21st, 1932, died May 7th, 2010