Bakhram Murtazaliev v Josh Kelly

Weight:

154 (Super Welterweight)

Notable belts:

IBF

Date:

31 January 2026

Venue:

Utilita Arena in Newcastle

This was an interesting fight going in as Kelly is a good pure boxer, but I thought Murtazaliev would get it done in a tough fight. It was a very close fight in many of the rounds but Kelly was a very fair winner. I had it a draw but only Kelly could legitimately win it on points for me. He boxed much better than expected and nullified a lot of what Murtazaliev did. Still, Murtazaliev was doing better than the commentary said and came on strong down the stretch. Big shots and hurt Kelly badly late. Fair play to Kelly for proving myself and many others wrong.