DETROIT -- Former World Boxing Association lightweight champion Hilmer Kenty, who attempted a comeback after suffering a detached retina, apparently plans to retire, it was reported today.
The Michigan Chronicle, a Detroit weekly newspaper, said Kenty has told close friends and associates he intends to retire and pursue several financial projects he developed during the peak of his boxing career.
The newspaper said Kenty had planned to announce his decision to retire at a news conference but canceled it for unknown reasons. Kenty's featured bout on ESPN, the sports cable network, was canceled last week.
Kenty, 29, was the first member of Detroit's Kronk boxing team to capture a world championship. He knocked out WBA lightweight champion Ernesto Espana of Puerto Rico in the ninth round of a 15-round title bout in San Juan in 1980. He successfully defended the title three times before losing to Sean O'Grady in a controversial split decision at Atlantic City, N.J., in 1981.
Later, it was revealed Kenty fought O'Grady while stricken with pneumonia and also suffered a detached retina, which forced him into more than a year of inactivity.
Kenty and manager Emanuel Steward had a falling out after the fight and Kenty eventually left the Kronk stable. Steward had questioned Kenty's training habits before the fight and later insisted he should end his career after the eye injury.
After successful surgery, Kenty launched his comeback bid in June 1982 with a fourth-round knockout of Chris Fernandez at Detroit.
Ranked among the world's top 20 contenders, Kenty appeared to be on the rise until he faced Robert Elizondo, another ranking contender. But Kenty failed to leave his corner at the beginning of the second round and the nationally televised bout had a devastating effect on his career.
Kenty dropped to the 139-pound junior lightweight division and defeated Karreem Muhammad in August 1983 at Traverse City.
His most recent fight, an Aug. 16 split decision in Detroit against Davey Oden, an unranked journeyman, led many to believe Kenty's skills had waned.
