Hilmer Kenty

 ( 1955 Births ) 

James Kenty, also known as Hilmer Kenty (born July 30, 1955 in Austin, Texas) is a former professional boxer who is a former WBA lightweight (135lb) champion of the world. He was selected a member of the All-American AAU boxing team for 1973, and was named the top lightweight amateur boxer in the nation in 1973 by the USA Boxing.

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Early years Kenty was raised in Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from Linden McKinley High school, where he played on the reserve football team his sophomore year.

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Amateur career Kenty started his amateur boxing career at age 12. He was coached by the greatest amateur coach in history of amateur boxing, Bill Cummings Jr. Kenty won his first Golden Glove's title at age 13. In 1972 Kenty went to the finals of the US Olympic trials in the Bantamweight division(119 pounds), losing on a decision to US Olympic Representative Ricardo Carreras. In 1973 Kenty moved up to the 132 pound lightweight division. In 1974 and 1975 Kenty became the National AAU lightweight champion. In 1975 he was considered and awarded the “Outstanding boxer” of the National AAU tournament.

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Professional career Kenty turned pro in 1977. In 1980, Kenty captured the WBA Lightweight Title with a TKO over Ernesto España, becoming Emanuel Steward's first world champion, and the first world champion from Detroit since Joe Louis decades earlier. Kenty and Thomas Hearns both won WBA belts together and became known as the Motor City Cobras. Kenty defended his belt three times including against Vilomar Fernandez, before losing it to Sean O'Grady in 1981, and retired in 1984. His only other loss in 31 fights came at the hands of fellow Texan, Roberto Elizondo, by a second round technical knockout when the bout was stopped after Kenty felt ill during the contest.

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Professional boxing record

31	Win	29–2	Dave Odem	SD	10	Aug 16, 1984
30	Win	28–2	Daniel Cardona	KO	4 (10)	Jun 28, 1984
29	Win	27–2	Freddie Pendleton	UD	10	Apr 19, 1984
28	Win	26–2	Sammy Young	TKO	3 (10)	Mar 10, 1984
27	Win	25–2	Ali Kareem Muhammad	UD	10	Nov 30, 1983
26	Win	24–2	Ali Kareem Muhammad	PTS	10	Aug 13, 1983
25	Win	23–2	James Martinez	UD	10	Jan 28, 1983
24	Loss	22–2	Roberto Elizondo	RTD	2 (10)	Oct 24, 1982
23	Win	22–1	John Montes	UD	10	Aug 8, 1982
22	Win	21–1	Chris Fernandez	TKO	4 (10)	Jun 11, 1982
21	Loss	20–1	Sean O'Grady	UD	15	Apr 12, 1981
20	Win	20–0	Vilomar Fernandez	UD	15	Nov 8, 1980
19	Win	19–0	Ernesto España	TKO	4 (15)	Sep 20, 1980
18	Win	18–0	Young Ho Oh	TKO	9 (15)	Aug 2, 1980
17	Win	17–0	Ernesto España	TKO	9 (15)	Mar 2, 1980
16	Win	16–0	Scotty Foreman	KO	3 (6)	Nov 30, 1979
15	Win	15–0	Sebastian Mosqueira Gonzalez	TKO	4 (10)	Oct 18, 1979
14	Win	14–0	Bobby Flores	KO	1 (10)	Aug 23, 1979
13	Win	13–0	Ralph Racine	UD	10	Aug 2, 1979
12	Win	12–0	Arturo Leon	UD	10	Jun 28, 1979
11	Win	11–0	Benny Benitez	TKO	5 (10)	May 8, 1979
10	Win	10–0	Alberto Herrera	KO	4 (10)	Mar 3, 1979
9	Win	9–0	Jose Gonzalez	RTD	7 (10)	Jan 25, 1979
8	Win	8–0	Jose Pena	TKO	3 (10)	Jan 11, 1979
7	Win	7–0	Eddie Murray	TKO	3 (?)	Dec 9, 1978
6	Win	6–0	Jesse Rogers	KO	1 (6)	Oct 26, 1978
5	Win	5–0	Ron Pettigrew	PTS	6	Jul 27, 1978
4	Win	4–0	Mike Gray	TKO	2 (6)	Apr 17, 1978
3	Win	3–0	Earl Stringer	TKO	3 (6)	Dec 16, 1977
2	Win	2–0	Ray Carrington	RTD	3 (6)	Nov 26, 1977
1	Win	1–0	Steve Homan	PTS	6	Oct 13, 1977

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See also

• Kronk Gym
• List of world lightweight boxing champions

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External links

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