Kennedy McKinney (born January 10, 1966) is an American former professional boxer, who won the bantamweight gold medal at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

. As a professional, he won the IBF and WBO

super bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanctioning organizations or ...

titles.

Military service

McKinney took up boxing while serving in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

private first class Private first class (french: Soldat de 1 classe; es, Soldado de primera) is a military rank held by junior enlisted personnel in a number of armed forces. French speaking countries In France and other French speaking countries, the rank (; ) ...

stationed at the

Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) (sometimes erroneously called Aberdeen Proving ''Grounds'') is a U.S. Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland, United States. More than 7,500 civilians and 5,000 military personnel work at ...

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 Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...

* 1988 2nd place at United States Amateur Championships as a Bantamweight, losing by decision to Jemal Hinton * 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 Byun Jung-il (born 16 November 1968 in Seoul) is a former South Korean professional boxer. He competed in the men's bantamweight event at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Amateur career At the 1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), ...

of South Korea, to whom he lost.Boxers Rise From Swamp
By Dave Nightingale, ''St Louis Sporting News'', October 10, 1988. * 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 Shahuraj Birajdar (born 19 July 1963) is a retired Indian boxer from Maharashtra. He competed in the men's bantamweight event at the 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () ...

(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 Welcome Ncita (born 21 October 1965) is a retired professional boxer and former IBF Super Bantamweight Champion. Known as "The Hawk", Ncita turned professional in 1984 and in 1990 captured the International Boxing Federation Super Bantamweight ...

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 Vuyani Bungu (born 26 February 1967) is a South African former professional boxer who competed from 1987 to 2005. He held the International Boxing Federation, IBF junior-featherweight title from 1994 to 1999, and the International Boxing Organ ...

, a fight which was deemed 1994 Upset of the Year by

Ring Magazine ''The Ring'' (often called ''The Ring'' magazine or ''Ring'' magazine) is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into questio ...

. Two years later he challenged undefeated

Marco Antonio Barrera Marco Antonio Barrera Tapia (born January 17, 1974) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2011. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the WBO junior featherweight title twice betwe ...

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 Luisito Pio Espinosa (born June 26, 1967) is a Filipino former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2005. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBA bantamweight title from 1989 to 1991 and the WBC featherweight ...

for the WBC

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

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 Olive Branch is a city in DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population is 39,711. Olive Branch is part of the Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region that consists of three counties in southwest Te ...

, where he is simply known as "Coach McKinney". He is the Head Boxing Coach at the Prize Fight Gym in

Southaven, Mississippi Southaven is a city in DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States. It is a principal city in Greater Memphis. The 2020 census reported a population of 54,648, making Southaven the third-largest city in Mississippi and the second most populous ...

References

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:McKinney, Kennedy 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