Josh Kelly battled through a crimson mask to retain his IBF super welterweight title against Caoimhin Agyarko on Saturday night.
The 2016 Olympian gutted it out with Agyarko at the Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia over 12 hard rounds, taking the win via unanimous decision with scorecards of 114-113, 115-112, 115-112 in his favour.
Kelly sustained a very deep cut to the bridge of his nose after multiple head clashes, but he didn’t let it deter him and finished strong to take the win.
“Listen, that was a messy, hard fight; you don’t get cuts like that from punches, they come from headbutts and elbows,” said Kelly.
“He was tricky, he stood off, he was awkward. I fought in bursts, and I showed a different side to me, fighting up close.
“My mindset and the stylistic change-up won me that fight.”
Matchroom Boxing are now looking to make a unification clash with WBA and WBO champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, fresh off his statement-making victory over Xander Zayas last month.
When that fight was put to him by DAZN, Kelly responded:”I want it next. People will be smiling, looking at that, thinking, ‘What is he talking about?’
“But that style of fight is difficult for anyone: headbutts, elbows.
“Those fights make you. I want big names, I’ve already taken out Bakhram Murtazaliev, I’m a champion at my weight, bring them all on.”
Story of the fight
Kelly got off to a good start, beating Agyarko to the punch and evading the response.
He moved fluently and cut angles beautifully, and through four rounds it was all one-way traffic.
2
Every time Agyarko lunged in, Kelly glided out of range, and when they stood and exchanged at mid-range, the Sunderland man snapped back his adversary’s head with sharp pot shots.
Sensing that the fight was slipping away from him, Agyarko came out in the fifth round with real intent, and after a point was deducted from Kelly for punching the back of the head, the momentum began to shift.
Agyarko began to close the gap in the second half of the fight and found a home for his potent left hook as he slipped on the outside of Kelly’s jab.
Round nine saw Agyarko really find his groove as he landed a beautiful pull counter, but in the tenth frame Kelly started to force the action.
In the championship rounds, a bloody and bruised Kelly bit down on his gumshield, working the body and head in equal measure.
His body shots opened up space for a booming right uppercut down the middle, which was a particularly eye-catching shot for ‘PPK’.
Agyarko never stopped working, though, and caught Kelly with a peach of a right hand as he stepped out of range.
In the end, it was Kelly’s impressive early work that won him the fight, but Agyarko can hold his head high in defeat.
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