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There is, however, one category of fighter that is often overlooked – the honest workman. He is the gladiator who is not blessed with the superlative talent that attracts multi-million dollar TV contracts and the attention of Hall of Fame trainers and promoters. Though he emerges victorious time after time, the media refrains from writing stories on him because he is considered too bland. Instead, he makes do with what he has and makes the best of it.

He is the fighter who clocks in at the gym every day and quietly goes about his business. He absorbs whatever instructions are given to him and he does the best he can within his skill set to carry them out. His greatest assets are those that can't be seen but only perceived: Steadiness, reliability and tenacity.

Kenny Keene and Terry Ray are two members of this proud but understated fraternity. Going in, they had two firm footholds in this pantheon: First, they campaigned in the necessary but perennially maligned cruiserweight division and second, Keene hailed from Emmett, Idaho and Ray from Terre Haute, Indiana, not exactly a pair of hotbeds for world class boxers. But it was the way they fought and conducted themselves that made them full-fledged members and that was never more in evidence than on October 8, 1994, the day they produced one of the most bruising and action-packed fights the division has ever known.

On the line was Keene's lightly regarded World Boxing Federation cruiserweight title, a belt he won seven months earlier by stopping Bobby Crabtree in four rounds. Since then, Keene decisioned John McClain in a non-title 10 rounder and stopped Vincent Boulware in 10 rounds two months before taking on Ray. Keene was not without fistic credentials: As an amateur he compiled an 86-20 record, winning the 1984 Junior Olympic championship along with six Golden Gloves titles and a spot in the finals of the 1988 national Golden Gloves. He continued his success after turning pro in August 1990, running off 28 consecutive victories that included 19 knockouts. His best victories were against former champions Ricky Parkey (W 10) and J.B. Williamson (KO 4) as well as fringe heavyweight contender James Pritchard (W 10) before taking out Crabtree.

Much of Keene's approach had to do with his choice of role model: Former middleweight champion Gene Fullmer. Soft-spoken and humble outside the ring, both Fullmer and Keene used their relentless ruggedness to methodically break down opponents in it. His balding head and flat speech pattern resembled Fullmer’s, and like him Keene was honest about his abilities.

"Usually I’m shorter than the other guy but I can out-jab them," he said. "I’ve got decent power and I take a pretty good shot. I’m not the greatest boxer but I do OK when I have to. My weaknesses? I’m sure I got a few. I’m not the fastest guy, I’m not the hardest puncher, I’m not the best boxer but I do what I have to do to win."

Ray, who at 31 was five years older than Keene, also had a long association in boxing. He took up the sport at age 12 and learned his craft at Terre Haute's Glenn Youth Center and Ryves Hall Youth Center and had a successful amateur career before turning pro in June 1986. Over the next eight years Ray crafted a 25-1 (14 KO) record against an assortment of journeymen, with the only loss coming against Mike Peak at a very early stage in both men's careers. The Keene fight represented a quantum leap upward in competition, but three factors helped bolster his chances. First, the fight was being held in Ray's hometown of Terre Haute on the campus of Indiana State University, from where he graduated in 1989. Second, his corner man was the legendary Angelo Dundee. Finally, at 6-2 ½ and armed with a 74-inch reach, Ray held advantages of 5 ½ inches in height and seven inches in reach.

As the fight began, Ray, 190, sought to use those edges as he stood straight up and worked behind the jab while popping in occasional rights to the head and body. Keene, 189 ½, his hands high and upper body hunched forward, was surprisingly effective with his jabs and a follow-up overhand right snapped Ray's head. The feeling-out fencing didn't last long, and both men soon set the terms of battle: Whether it be at close range or at arm's length, both men were punching – and punching often. Ray's stiff jabs penetrated Keene's peek-a-boo style guard while the champion smartly fired in blows within his bob-and-weave approach. In the final minute both picked up the pace and scored heavily with bombs at close range, Keene working more to the body while Ray targeted the head, especially with right uppercuts.

Ray started the second pumping the jab continuously but Keene rolled under most of them and scored with jabs. Ray was trying his best to establish a big man's game of fighting at a distance, but his temperament – and his vocal hometown crowd – commanded him to trade punch for punch with the champion. A right to the jaw nailed Keene in the final minute but Keene bounced back with a pair of rights. Ray answered that salvo with a right-left and the champion responded with a head rattling overhand right. It was a vicious, sustained exchanged seldom seen in big men as CBS boxing analyst Gil Clancy duly noted.

"Keene's style is to out-tough the other guy, but he's in with another very tough guy," he said. Given the extraordinarily tough pace and the damage both men inflicted, it was difficult to imagine that this would last for long. As the pair hammered away, Clancy told blow-by-blow man Tim Ryan he'd buy him a hat if the fight went the distance. Ryan pointed out that he didn't wear hats, but Clancy said he'd be getting one anyway. He was that sure he was right.

The bruising action continued in the third with Keene's body attack gaining steam and Ray catching the champ with lead rights and right uppercuts. This was a fight – and a pace – to which Keene was accustomed; of his 28 fights he had gone 10 rounds seven times while Ray had never got beyond eight rounds, a mark he reached just five times in his 26 bouts. At this early juncture Ray was already breathing hard and Keene's thumping body shots didn't help matters for him. A right to the ribs made Ray wince and a left to the pit of the stomach moments later only added to his duress. The crowd, sensing Ray was weakening, tried to lift his spirits and while Ray continued to work the third was clearly Keene's best so far.

Keene worked both hands with surprising speed as he rattled off a double jab to the head followed by a double jab-right to the body combo to begin the fourth. His body punches were delivered with accuracy and hurtful leverage, the kind that saps energy and resolve from his opponents. But every time Keene mounted a surge, Ray soaked up the punishment and produced his own answer, especially during those sequences when the fight was waged at arm's length. Though he wasn't scoring quite as often as Keene, Ray managed to open a cut under the champion's right eye while also producing blood from Keene's nostrils.

The fifth was waged at a withering pace more suited to lightweights than cruiserweights as there were neither clinches nor rest for either man. Keene's sharpness and underrated quickness still carried the day as he sliced through Ray's defense. Ray, unmoved, still stood tall while inching forward behind jabs and clubbing rights.

Ray, perhaps pacing himself, had fought a patient fight up until now and that patience began to pay off midway through the session when Keene initiated a pair of clinches and Ray started to land with more effect. Keene coped by going back to the body, but now Ray's shots to the ribs made Keene pause and take a deep breath. Nevertheless, neither was willing to cede control for more than a few seconds, but as Ray landed a left-right-left uppercut combo in the final moments one could sense a small shift in fortune.

Keene knew that the jab was the best weapon to use when waiting for a second wind, and his success with it fueled several follow-ups that enabled him to regain a semblance of control in the sixth. His combinations – especially to the body – was pure Fullmer. He knew he wasn't the fastest or the most powerful, but he had faith in his ability to endure anything his opponent could dish out. The body blows adroitly set up opportunities to the head, which he partook with relish. But Ray stayed with Keene every second of every round, trading with a challenger's resolve. Together, they were two workmen who were in the mood to put forth an honest day's work that far exceeded their honest day's pay.

A short hook on the inside backed Keene off, who shook his head at the challenger to signal he was unaffected. Neither Ray nor the crowd was fooled by Keene's uncharacteristic show of bravado; he jumped in and went after the champion. But Keene answered Ray's burst with a solid lead right that quelled the mini-rally.

Keene switched tactics early in the seventh as he backed away in small circles and pelted Ray with long range punches, much like Fullmer did in his first fight with Carmen Basilio in 1959. He slipped under Ray's blows and brought up rights to the gut and overhand rights to the head. In the final minute, Keened surged forward and stepped up his offense. A huge overhand right-left hook-straight right combo caused Ray's legs to quiver and Keene tore after him. A solid right opened a nasty cut along Ray's left eye and for the first time Ray looked ready to be taken. But Ray, ever game, rode out the storm and mounted a rally in the final moments with a counter right-hook combo that stunned Keene. Here, the champion's calm came in handy as he regrouped and fought his way out of trouble.

The hard pace told on both men as they wearily walked back to their respective corners. But Dundee wanted more from his man.

"Don't look at this guy," Dundee commanded. "Back him up!"

Ray did his best to obey Dundee in the eighth, and his rights began to take more of a toll. The blood flowed more freely from Ray's eye because Dundee's cut medicine had not yet taken hold and Keene's nosebleed also increased in severity. Even though their faces were breaking apart, their wills remained strong. Ray surged at the midway point as he connected with a right uppercut-left hook that knocked Keene slightly off balance, but enough to ignite a roar from the crowd. The champion quieted them with three consecutive overhand rights, a one-two and a full-shouldered jab.

With a minute left, referee Sean Curtain stopped the action and asked the ringside physician to examine Ray's cut – a move that prompted loud boos. The bout was allowed to continue, but the possibility of the fight being stopped caused both men to go for the kill. Keene landed a right-left-right-right to the face while Ray answered with a pair of heavy lefts and a one-two that drove the champion back.

The two fighters hammered away remorselessly, each believing he had the other on the edge of defeat. Clancy marveled at the action, saying "I don't think I’ve ever seen more action in a fight with big men than in this fight, and that's some statement but that happens to be true." This fight may have been for a belt whose worth was not highly regarded, but the two men fighting for it put forth an effort worthy of an undisputed championship.

Up to this point, Keene had built an edge on the scorecards due to his sharper combination punching and slightly superior work rate but his effort was about to come with a high price. Starting late in the eighth, Keene's technique became more ragged and his mouth started to hang open. By the ninth, the ever-observant Dundee pounded the ring mat and shouted, "Jump on him! Jump on him!" At the end of the round, Ray did as he was told and slammed a heavy right that made the champion clinch.

Fueled with renewed energy and confidence, Ray began the 10th snapping jabs while moving strategically in both directions. Ray initiated most of the exchanges and landed the harder punches, and he punctuated the trend with a left hook that sent Keene reeling toward the ropes. Though the champion continued to throw, his punches no longer had snap and were unleashed more on reflex than any conscious purpose. A wicked hook following a missed right stopped Keene in his tracks and a subsequent flurry sent him wobbling to the ropes and holding on. Keene's only saving grace was that Ray couldn't draw the perfect bead for a knockout punch, but in any case the 10th represented by far the challenger's best round.

Knowing their man was putting together a potential title-winning drive, the crowd sought to push Ray toward the finish line. Ray worked the left and connected with a good counter right as a weary Keene remained at long range, his offensive output eroding noticeably. A snappy hook nailed Keene during an exchange, and the champion's resistance appeared to decay toward a dangerous ebb. Realizing the crisis before him, Keene summoned his bread and butter – his strong body attack – to keep Ray from applying the finishing touches as the round closed.

Ray was performing well for a man who was about to engage in his fourth round beyond his longest previous distance. The conventional wisdom indicated that Ray's best chance was an early knockout, but here he was, in the most physically demanding fight of his professional career, and he was the one who was coming on stronger against a man known for his stamina. On the other hand Keene realized that the lead he had built was rapidly shrinking and that he needed to summon one more massive effort to stave off a possible changing of the guard.

Ray started the final round well as he landed a right uppercut-left uppercut-overhand right combo while Keene answered with a jab-jab-right before falling into a clinch. Keene somehow unleashed a five-punch salvo, but Ray connected with a terrific hook in the midst of an exchange. With the carrot of the final three minutes upon them, both men put forth their best selves. As tired as Keene appeared in the 11th, he had regained a measure of accuracy and effectiveness. Yet Ray maintained the form that led him to his late round rally as he slammed in a pair of right uppercuts and a hook as Keene rushed in. Another right uppercut strafed Keene's head and a follow-up one-two buckled the champion's knees ever so imperceptibly.

Each man laid everything on the line in pursuit of a common goal – victory – and the fight ended much like it began, with the pair throwing and landing hard blows until the last moment.

Judge Mark Snow saw the bout a draw at 115-115, but Gary Merritt and Deacon Bower overruled him by scoring it 116-112 and 118-113 for the winner – and still – champion Kenny Keene.

When Ryan asked Keene if he was relieved he had won a decision in his challenger's hometown, he replied, "yes I am. And I couldn't really tell how the fight was going because every time he hit me the crowd was going crazy. But who cares? He has nothing to be ashamed of and I don't either."

Keene was surprised at his opponent's stamina considering his inexperience with long distances.

"My plan kind of backfired on me," he said. "I've been the rounds and he hasn't so I thought once I got him in the later rounds I'd be in control, but it backfired on me."

The disappointed Ray thought he had done enough to deserve the decision.

"I thought I won the fight to be honest with you," he told Ryan. "I thought I won it pretty clearly. It was close and Kenny is a very tough individual. I may be a better fighter than Kenny Keene thought and maybe he's got a little more respect for me."

It was the kind of fight that not only caused the combatants to elevate their respect for one another, but also the public appreciation for fighters who, in essence, are much like themselves – hard-working, earnest and always striving to be their best.

Epilogue: The two met again nine months later, this time for the vacant IBC belt, but the result was as anticlimactic as the first fight was scintillating as Keene won a five-round technical decision due to an unintentional head butt. Before the rematch, Keene knocked out Martin Lopez in three, lost the WBF belt back to Crabtree by split decision and stopping Herman Delgado in three. Meanwhile, Ray was similarly active as he stopped Tim Johnson (KO 12), Robert Straw (KO 5) and Keith Williams (KO 7) before losing his second fight to Keene.

Ray ran off five straight victories before losing a 10-round decision to Robert Daniels, yet the defeat didn't keep him from earning a crack at Crabtree's WBF belt on March 2, 1997. This time Ray made good as he stopped the southpaw bomber in three. Ray's reign lasted only three months as the 18-0 Don Diego Poeder halted Ray in 10 rounds.

Ray's only chance at a major title came against WBA champion Fabrice Tiozzo, who stopped Ray in just 60 seconds. Four months later he fell victim to the 40-0 Brian Nielsen in five rounds. He returned to his sphere of familiarity and found success in it, regaining the WBF title by stopping Samson Cohen in two rounds on January 23, 1999 and defending it three months later against Ron Bensonhaver (TD 9). Vincenzo Cantatore stopped Ray in three for the WBU belt but Ray won the WBF bauble for the third time by decisioning Bensonhaver for the vacant title. After losing the belt to Bash Ali (TD 7), the 37-year-old Ray won his final fight on February 27, 2001 when he stopped Brian Yates in four rounds. His final record is 41-9 with 25 knockouts.

Keene fought on for 11 more years after the Ray rematch, and while he never fought for a "major" title he was largely successful as he went 19-3 (7 KO). His best victories were against Crabtree (KO 9), Mike Sedillo (W 10), Rich LaMontagne (W 12), Rocky Gannon (KO 11), Dominick Carter (W 12, KO 5), Rob Calloway (W 12) and Tony Menefee (KO 1). Only Saul Montana (L 12), Robert Daniels (L 12) and Arthur Williams (KO by 10), all of whom made their marks on the world stage, managed to best him.