When Adam Booth looks back on his long and successful career as one of British boxing’s top coaches, there’s little he hasn’t seen.
On Saturday he guides Josh Kelly into a world-title fight against the heavily-favored IBF 154lbs champion Bakhram Murtazaliev in Newcastle, England. Much was expected from Kelly when he turned over. He was fast, flashy, good looking and Matchroom swooped to sign him.
But, as with many of his fellow 2016 Olympians, he found that adapting to the pros was not a straightforward task.
Lawrence Okolie, Joshua Buatsi, Anthony Fowler and Joe Joyce have all had their issues in the professional side of the sport and Kelly was no different.
Those who believed in him in the start all but deserted him when he lost to David Avanesyan in 2021. Despite a good start against Avanesyan, the Armenian kept coming forward and wouldn’t be denied.
For Booth, his previously unbeaten prospect was toppled by an experienced veteran.
It was in 2004 when a young contender named David Haye suffered his first loss, 10 fights into a pro career in which he won world titles at cruiserweight and heavyweight.
Avanesyan-Kelly was not new territory for Booth, and while the rebuilding of Haye and Kelly has been different, Booth believes that from the fires of criticism and the disappointment of defeat, two stronger, better fighters were forged.
“When something happens that breaks you down, you go one of two ways,” Booth tells BoxingScene. “You either get stronger over time and that becomes how you respond and adapt to that moment, or you don’t. Josh has galvanised and developed because of that loss. I’ve seen it before in another fighter’s career that had a similar trajectory and then the name of David Avanesyan keeps getting brought up.
“Just like the name of Carl Thompson used to keep getting brought up to David Haye for a long time after the loss, until he won a certain thing and then it never got mentioned again. And I think that that’s this moment in time. Beating Murtazaliev, Josh will probably never hear Avanesyan’s name mentioned in an interview again.”
On Saturday, in Newcastle, Kelly takes on the feared Murtazaliev.
The bout, at the Newcastle Arena, is not far from Kelly’s home and it also signals his first contest since his promotional reunion with Matchroom. And for Booth, talking about comparisons between Kelly and Haye start and end with the ability to return from a loss and further their careers.
“Different characters,” he says, asked to expand on the point. “That’s kind of what I mean and the lessons of what they learned from it. So the detail of the answer [as to whether the cases are similar] is ‘No’, completely different. The end result of the answer is ‘Yes’, exactly the same…
“That you end up with a physically more capable, technically more capable, emotionally more stable, spiritually more composed human going into a fight. And so the end result from the losses is the same, but the roots to the psychological… the roots to that end result have been different because they’re different characters.”
Booth and Kelly have left nothing to chance this time. The 31-year-old is all in and has been staying at Booth’s apartment in Surrey in camp following a three-week training stint in Dubai.
Kelly is 17-1-1 (9 KOs) and even the draw came with lessons, an early 10-round tie with American Ray Robinson, in Madison Square Garden on the June 2019 undercard of the first clash between Andy Ruiz and Anthony Joshua. Robinson at the time was 24-3-1 while Kelly was just nine fights into his pro career
Kelly has won his past seven and in his only fight of 2025 took barely two minutes to dismiss Flavius Biea at Saturday’s venue. Booth regardless believes the timing is just right for him.
“I’m looking at Josh and how he genuinely seems to be at the apex of maturity, strength, understanding what he is as a man, what he’s done and can do as an athlete and as a fighter,” says the coach. “I think we call it the prime, coming into his prime. But there are definite, tangible, measurable things that show me that this is the right time for Josh to be at this stage.”
It has been eight years since Booth guided a fighter to a world title, when Ryan Burnett won two bantamweight belts, joining fellow Booth stars like Andy Lee and Haye as champions he’s worked with. But Booth has coached a host of top talents at various stages, with the likes of George Groves, Michael Conlan, Joe Joyce, Chris Eubank Jnr, Dave Allen, Felix Cash, and David Adeleye all for a while calling his Surrey gym home.
Asked to think back to his past world-title winning fight, Booth smiles.
“It’s been a while,” he responds. “It’s been a minute.”
He stops to think, and then goes on.
“Yeah, I probably shouldn’t still be here,” he says. “I mean, let’s look at the eight years prior to the eight years that followed. There’s a big difference.
“That’s life, isn’t it? Or should I say that’s my journey? I mean, for me, it’s not about, ‘Okay, oh, he’s a world champion, so I’ll train him’. It’s never like that for me. It’s always much more personal; much more long-term. Even with Mick Conlan, and he challenged and lost to Leigh Wood for the world title and Mick and I had worked together for years leading up to that. Josh has been with me now since he turned pro, nine years ago. They’re always long journeys. And if it wasn’t for Josh, I’m confident I probably wouldn’t be coaching now.
“But we’ve committed to seeing this through to the end. I believe in his ability wholeheartedly. I know how good he is. I’ve seen what he can do. And having gone through his program of evolution, he now has an opportunity to fulfil his potential. And that really excites me.
“That's what gets me interested in keeping doing this. I’ve been doing it for a long time. I’ve got a lot of injuries. I’ve got a lot of pains myself. I need surgery on two different joints, but can’t do that until I retire from coaching. It’s been a long journey, but I still seem to have a youthful enthusiasm.”
Asked whether that meant Kelly could be his last fighter, Booth replies: “I thought David Haye was going to be my last one. I thought as a coach, I never started going to the gym and holding pads for people and doing some coaching – I never did it for a career. I never started to do it as a career. I was actually teaching and I was happy in my job. And it just all of a sudden, before you know it, you’re caught up in this whirlwind. Because remember, I wasn’t just the coach. I was the manager and the promoter at the same time of the world heavyweight champion. It was just a whirlwind, an exhausting whirlwind. So I don't know. Never say never because I've had one foot out the door since 2008.”
There is the voice in Booth’s head that enough is enough. The aches and pains are daily reminders of the vast mileage he has travelled, the emotional burden of boxing’s rollercoaster, the scars of heartbreaking defeats, the unforgettable highs of wins as the underdog, of raising titles, fulfilling promises and helping his fighters achieve their dreams.
It’s wearing and draining. The highs are high. The lows are horrendous and aging.
“Too difficult; too stressful; too irritating,” Booth considers. “The highs and the lows. It’s exhausting. But ultimately, I’m still here after 20-odd years.”
Booth knows that fighters struggle to walk away. He talks about stopping training fighters with a kind of relief, that he will no longer be saddled by the burden.
But when the rollercoaster stops, will he not miss both peaks and valleys?
“I mean, it takes someone without an ego to seriously talk about that, to answer that question,” he explains. “Well, actually, because dissolving the ego... To be involved in a competitive sport and a competitive environment, you have to have an ego.
“To be a person that’s there because of what you know and to impart your knowledge to somebody else, there is always an element of ego involved. And it’s the element I don’t like. I look forward to dissolving my ego and having a different type of existence.
“But while I’m in a competitive arena, I know I have to be that character. I’m acting my role. What I strive for or desire in life at some point, before I pop my clogs, is a different way of life that doesn't have the highs, so to speak. Because the highs are just as exhausting as the lows. They're not just fighters. I’m not just a coach or a manager or a promoter – we're friends and we're going through life's experiences together. Like I keep saying, I know it sounds like a real cliche, but for me, the destination is the journey itself.”
On Saturday, in Newcastle, the latest nine-year journey in the career of Adam Booth comes to a crossroads. And it is down to Josh Kelly to make sure the destination is just as rewarding as the journey has been so far.
