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Monday, January 30, 2006

"Spider" Kelly


This photo came to me from the family. "Spider" was a famous local Trenton Featherweight from the latter part of the 19th century into the early part of the twentieth. He finished his illustrious career in boxing as a trainer for many local boxers. More material will be posted on "Spider" in future posts.

1 comment:

  1. Maureen SchusterMonday, April 09, 2012

    John A. (Spider) Kelly is my great-great grandpa. He was a famous boxer, and taught at Princeton University. He believed that boxing should not be a sport where you go in and kill each other, he called it "a manly art", or "a gentleman sport". Ernest Hemingway also mentions Spider Kelly in his novel, "The Sun Also Rises". Mr. Hemingway had actually called Mr. Kelly asking if it was okay to use him in his novel.

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