IBF orders Bakhram Murtazaliev to defend against Josh Kelly
Aug 20, 2025 • 5:14 AM ET
The IBF has instructed their junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev to face Josh Kelly.
With No. 1 contender Erickson Lubin seemingly heading towards a fight with WBC interim champion Vergil Ortiz and the No. 2 spot vacant, the No. 3 contender, Sunderland’s 17-1-1 (9 KOs) Kelly, is set to challenge the feared Russian, sources have informed BoxingScene.
The IBF has ordered negotiations – between Murtazaliev’s representatives at Main Events and Kelly’s team – to start now and for a deal to be struck within 30 days, by September 19.
Kelly is trained by Adam Booth, and the camp recently were linked to a contest with Jaron “Boots” Ennis in Philadelphia.
But Kelly, a 2016 Rio Olympian, told BoxingScene months ago that Murtazaliev was his No. 1 target.
Murtazaliev is 23-0 (17 KOs) and scored impressive stoppages of Jack Culcay and Tim Tszyu in 2024.
Kelly blitzed Flavius Biea in two minutes in June and has won seven in a row since the lone loss of his career against David Avanesyan in 2021.
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
