Kelly! Kelly! Kelly!
DennisKellyTrooper1536Small
Kelly! Kelly! Kelly!

By: Mr. Stan Plastek and Mr. Joe McGowan

Plastek: Joe worked in the jockey room at Del Park racetrack. To entertain the grooms, jockeys, and other employees, DP had exhibition boxing matches on site. Joe had the great idea of volunteering Dennis to participate in one of these exhibitions. Joe, Joe Campbell, myself (and a few other Salesian “gentlemen”), along with Dennis’ other friends were all in the front row chanting: “Kelly!!!, Kelly!!!, Kelly!!!“ throughout the bout. I’m sure the libations helped us with our cheering. Anyway, chalk up the unanimous decision to Dennis. He was so popular, he was invited back to box in the next exhibition with an additional stipend for his efforts. A crowd favorite due to his unique sparring style, which was to take on any opponent head on and never give an inch. This mantra carried over to every aspect of his life to accept all challenges without reservation.

I was his sparring partner. To put it bluntly, he kicked my (insert), but not in a malicious way. Dennis had a sense of fair play and this was also a trait he displayed throughout his life.

McGowan: While working at Delaware Park, the man I worked for Jock LaBelle would have weekly boxing matches during the meet. Since I knew Dennis’ fiery competitive nature, I told him there was a former St. Mark’s athlete that bragged about being able to kick Dennis ass (I’m soo bad). So Dennis said he would box him whenever. Jock LaBelle set the match and all of our friends, Joe Campbell, Jimmy Martin, Stan and others showed up….The St. Marks kids didn’t show, so Jock LaBelle had an amateur boxer (from a famous Wilmington family) take the kids place. So, during the match we were screaming…Kelly! Kelly! Kelly! Dennis whooped the kid...

We think this is Dennis boxing at Delaware Park.

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