Josh Kelly (boxer)

Last updated

Josh Kelly
Born (1994-03-07) 7 March 1994 (age 30)
Sunderland, England
Other namesPretty Boy [1]
Statistics
Weight(s)
Height5 ft 10 in (178 cm) [2]
Reach72 in (183 cm) [2]
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights18
Wins16
Wins by KO8
Losses1
Draws1
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Great Britain
European Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2015 Baku Welterweight

Josh Kelly (born 7 March 1994 [2] ) is an English professional boxer who has held the British light-middleweight title since 2022 and previously the Commonwealth welterweight title from 2018 to 2019. [3] As an amateur competed in the men's welterweight event at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2015 European Games, in which he won a bronze medal, representing Great Britain. [4]

Contents

He is a supporter of Sunderland AFC [5] [6]

Professional career

Having competed in the Olympics, Kelly's first fight as a professional was a six rounds points victory (59-55) against Jay Byrne (4-1) of Dublin in April 2017 at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow on the undercard of Ricky Burns vs. Julius Indongo. [7]

Kelly won his next two fights in the next two months, defeating Spain's Jony Vila (6-1) and Gateshead's Tom Whitfield (4-1) by fourth-round stoppage and first-round knockout respectively. [8] [9] The Vila fight took place at the Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham in May whilst the Whitfield fight took place at the Walker Activity Dome, Newcastle in June, with his fight being the main event. [10] [11]

Kelly finished the year with a record of 5-0 after victories over Mexico's Jose Luis Zuniga (13-2-1) and France's Jean Michel Hamilcaro (25-8-3), winning by second-round stoppage and sixth-round stoppage respectively in October and December. Those fights took place at the SSE Arena, Belfast and the York Hall, London.

Kelly vs. Robinson

On June 1, 2019, Kelly fought Ray Robinson, who was ranked #13 by the WBC and #15 by the WBO at welterweight. Kelly was ranked #9 by the WBA at welterweight. The contest was even and ended up in a majority draw, with one scorecard going in favour of Kelly, 96-94, while the other two read 95-95 twice. [12]

Kelly vs. Campos

In his next fight, Kelly fought Wiston Campos. Kelly was struggling to handle Campos at times, but nonetheless managed to win the bout via unanimous decision, scoring 99-90, 99-90 and 98-91 on the scorecards. [13]

Kelly vs. Avanesyan

In his next fight, Kelly fought highly ranked welterweight David Avanesyan, who was ranked #6 by the IBF, #7 by the WBC, #9 by the WBA and #10 by the WBO at the time. Avanesyan showed to be the better man on the night and finished Kelly within six rounds. [14] [15]

Kelly is the current British light middleweight champion after beating Troy Williamson by unanimous decision at the Newcastle Arena on 2nd December 2022.

Kelly vs. Davis

Kelly was scheduled to face Liam Smith at Wembley Stadium in London, England on September 21, 2024. [16] On September 13, 2024 it was reported that the latter withdrew due to illness. [17] On September 16, 2024 it was announced that Smith was replaced by Ishmael Davis. [18]

Professional boxing record

18 fights16 wins1 loss
By knockout81
By decision80
Draws1
No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
18Win16–1–1Ishmael DavisMD3 21 Sep 2024 Wembley Stadium, London, England
17Win15–1–1Placido RamirezKO3 (12), 2:3816 Dec 2023 Beacon of Light, Sunderland, England
16Win14–1–1Gabriel Alberto CorzoUD1215 Jul 2023Vertu Motors Arena, Newcastle, EnglandRetained WBO International super welterweight title
15Win13–1–1 Troy Williamson UD122 Dec 2022Newcastle Arena, Newcastle, EnglandWon British light-middleweight title
14Win12–1–1Lucas BastidaUD1030 Jul 2022 Vertu Motors Arena, Newcastle, EnglandWon vacant WBO International super welterweight title
13Win11–1–1Peter KramerTKO4 (10), 2:3117 Jun 2022 Liverpool Arena, Liverpool, England
12Loss10–1–1 David Avanesyan TKO6 (12), 2:1520 Feb 2021 The SSE Arena, London, EnglandFor European welterweight title
11Win10–0–1Wiston CamposUD1020 Dec 2019 Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
10Draw9–0–1Ray RobinsonMD10 1 Jun 2019 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USRetained WBA International welterweight title
9Win9–0Przemyslaw RunowskiUD1020 Apr 2019 The O2 Arena, London, EnglandRetained WBA International welterweight title
8Win8–0Walter Fabian CastilloTKO1 (10), 2:55 10 Nov 2018 Manchester Arena, Manchester, England
7Win7–0 Kris George RTD7 (12), 3:0016 Jun 2018 Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, EnglandRetained WBA International welterweight title;
Won Commonwealth welterweight title
6Win6–0 Carlos Molina UD10 31 Mar 2018 Principality Stadium, Cardiff, WalesWon vacant WBA International welterweight title
5Win5–0Jean Michel HamilcaroTKO6 (10), 2:0613 Dec 2017 York Hall, London, England
4Win4–0Jose Luis ZunigaTKO2 (6), 1:4121 Oct 2017 SSE Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland
3Win3–0Tom WhitfieldKO1 (8), 1:1923 Jun 2017Walker Activity Dome, Newcastle, England
2Win2–0Jony VinaTKO4 (6), 1:2713 May 2017 Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham, England
1Win1–0Jay ByrnePTS615 Apr 2017 The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland

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References

  1. ↑ "The true Josh Kelly is no 'Pretty Boy'". Sky Sports. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Netherton, Alexander (2 December 2022). "What time is Troy Williamson vs. Josh Kelly tonight? Ringwalks, running order, streaming, how to watch". DAZN . Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  3. ↑ "BoxRec". boxrec.com. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  4. ↑ "Josh Kelly". Rio2016.com. Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "Eddie Hearn: Sunderland fan Josh Kelly must fight at the Stadium of Light". 14 February 2020.
  6. ↑ "Josh Kelly wants Stadium of Light clash against Conor Benn after David Avanesyan bout".
  7. ↑ "BoxRec". boxrec.com. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  8. ↑ "BoxRec". boxrec.com. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  9. ↑ "BoxRec". boxrec.com. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  10. ↑ "BoxRec". boxrec.com. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  11. ↑ "BoxRec". boxrec.com. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  12. ↑ "Kelly vs Robinson - News, Tape, Ringwalk, TV, Streaming & Tickets". Box.Live. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  13. ↑ Christ, Scott (20 December 2019). "Liam Smith and Josh Kelly win on Jacobs-Chavez undercard". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  14. ↑ "Avanesyan vs Kelly - News, Tape, Ringwalk, TV, Streaming & Tickets". Box.Live. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  15. ↑ "David Avanesyan vs Josh Kelly results as Brit loses unbeaten record to rampaging Russian". SecondsOut Boxing News. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  16. ↑ Rotich, Judy J. (25 August 2024). "Liam Smith About To Face Josh Kelly In A Crucial Middleweight Showdown". Athlon Sports Boxing.
  17. ↑ Stumberg, Patrick (13 September 2024). "Liam Smith falls ill, withdraws from Josh Kelly fight". Bad Left Hook.
  18. ↑ Iskenderov, Parviz (16 September 2024). "Ishmael Davis replaces Liam Smith to fight Josh Kelly on Joshua-Dubois undercard". FIGHTMAG.
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