By Elliot Foster

Josh Kelly scored a retirement victory to add to his title tally.

The former Team GB Olympian picked up Kris George’s Commonwealth welterweight title at the Metro Radio Arena.

Kelly is now seven from seven as a pro with six early after the Australian was withdrawn by his corner at the end of the seventh round, exclusively live on Sky Sports.

He forced George (now 16-2) to feel the power in the opening round as he made the first defence of his WBA International title in Newcastle.

It was a good display by ‘PBK’, who is trained by Adam Booth, and the fight – which was relatively one-sided throughout – was brought to an end after George’s corner pulled their man out with an injury to the right hand.

“It was good pressure in there tonight and I felt like I got complacent because I knew I could deal with what he had,” Kelly said afterwards. “It shouldn’t really have happened and I didn’t need to be taking shots, so that’s something that we need to clean up, but I’m only seven fights in and there is plenty to do.”

Kelly’s promoter Eddie Hearn said that his man could fight in America next, with the first Matchroom USA card tabbed for a venue in New York on September 22, and that he won the fight with ease.

Further details regarding the star amateur’s hopefully quick return will be revealed in due course.