A noted tournament competitor and training partner of full-contact karate legend Bill Wallace, Keeney was ranked number 4 in Black Belt's 1972 tournament fighter ratings. But it was as a promoter and organizer Keeney most made his mark. He staged some of the most prestigious karate tournaments in the country including the USKA Grand Nationals, the Top Ten Nationals and the PKC Nationals. An instrumental figure in the early days of kickboxing, Keeney was an official with the Professional Karate Association and promoted Wallace's retirement fight, televised on CBS in 1980. Among his students was PKA heavyweight champion Ross Scott. With the gradual demise of the PKA, he would go on to help found the Professional Karate Commission in 1986, which became a sanctioning body for both kickboxing and point karate tournaments.