Josh Kelly now has two paths toward a title shot at 154lbs.
Earlier this week, the IBF ordered a fight between Kelly and junior middleweight titleholder Bakhram Murtazaliev. Kelly is rated No. 3 by the IBF, but its top-ranked contender, Erickson Lubin, is instead pursuing a bout with interim WBC titleholder Vergil Ortiz Jnr, and the IBF’s No. 2 spot is vacant.
And now the WBO’s latest ratings update – released August 21 and reflecting results through August 15 – has Kelly positioned at No. 1.
Kelly, 17-1-1 (9 KOs), had been rated third as of last month. He was elevated thanks to a fight between the two men who were rated above him, Xander Zayas and Jorge Garcia Perez. Zayas outpointed Perez in July to win the WBO’s vacant belt; Perez subsequently dropped down to No. 10.
Kelly, a 31-year-old from Sunderland, England, competed in the 2016 Olympics, losing to eventual welterweight gold medalist Daniyar Yeleussinov.
He is coming off a first-round knockout of the 24-1 Flavius Biea in June. That was Kelly’s seventh win in a row since his lone loss. He had turned pro in 2017 and was moved quickly – perhaps too quickly. In 2019, Kelly was held to a draw against Ray Robinson. And then in early 2021, Kelly was stopped in the sixth round by David Avanesyan.
Kelly then moved up to junior middleweight in 2022. Later that year, he took a wide decision over the 19-0-1 Troy Williamson. Kelly was supposed to face Liam Smith in September 2024 on the undercard of Daniel Dubois-Anthony Joshua. When Smith pulled out because of an illness, Kelly instead took a narrow majority decision over a late replacement, the 13-0 Ishmael Davis.
Kelly-Davis was at middleweight, and he came in just shy of 157lbs for the Biea bout. That means Kelly hasn’t actually fought within the junior middleweight limit since December 2023.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
