American super welterweight contender Jaron Ennis and British fighter Josh Kelly are reportedly heading into a WBO final eliminator that will determine the mandatory contender for the recently-crowned WBO champion Xander Zayas. Despite the upcoming fight being a good test for both, Kelly seems to be gravitating towards fighting IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev instead in lieu of what he claims is a lowball offer.
Jaron Ennis (34-0, 30 KO’s) and Josh Kelly (17-1-1, 9 KO’s) share the same opponent in Armenian fighter David Avanesyan (31-5-1, 19 KO’s) who Ennis defeated by stoppage last year in his Matchroom debut as opposed to Kelly ― who was actually stopped by Avanesyan in 2021.
Despite his loss to Avanesyan four years ago, Kelly has been on a winning streak since then and has had at least six fights at super welterweight (154 lbs) since that defeat. With Josh Kelly currently being ranked at #3 on the WBO’s 154-pound rankings, Kelly fits the bill perfectly as a challenging opponent.
However, following Turki Alalshikh’s claims of Ennis having asked for two tune-up fights on a Riyadh Season or The Ring card [which are known for wanting to host only the most competitive fights] in the lead-up to a potential bout against a top fighter, purportedly Vergil Ortiz Jr, Kelly could be arguably considered a tune-up fight for Ennis.
Ironically, Kelly himself would disregard these notions in a recent interview where he regarded as much more valuable than the offer Ennis’ promoter, Matchroom, made for him:
“The offer was s***,” Kelly told The Ring. “He’s done it like, “You got to reply in 24 hours or we’re moving to a different opponent’. And it weren’t Eddie [Hearn], I think it was Eddie’s lawyer who said it.
“It’s all smoke and mirrors, and then they put it out in the media. Give me the right money and the right time ― I’m there. I’ll fight you in this. These fights need to be prepared for. You can’t just be saying 24 hours, you got this many weeks, you got to fly. Doesn’t work like that.
“We’re fighters as well and I’m an established fighter. I’m not just a fighter who’s like, “Oh, he’s somewhere in the rankings’. So you can just give him I’m an established fighter, that I’m an established name. So doesn’t work like that.“
Clearly seeing himself as a more valuable fighter than he is viewed as by at least Matchroom, Kelly further emphasized his status in boxing by styling himself as a potential title challenger for IBF 154-pound champion Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KO’s).
“I heard Turki Alalshikh saying he can get no one to fight [Bakhram] Murtazaliev,” Kelly said. “I’m saying, listen, get your guy to fight m, right? I’ll fight Murtazaliev. I’ll fight him. No problem.
“And about Tom and Jerry fights and all this stuff. It’s like, stars make fights. If there weren’t the great Cassius Clays, if there weren’t a great Sugar Ray Leonards or Willie Peps or Ray Robinsons, any of them guys, there wouldn’t be any stars. It would just be everyone standing in the center of the ring.
“So this [Kelly] Tom and Jerry fighter will go in there and he’ll beat Murtazaliev. Stand him on his head. So, let’s make that fight.“
Not shy to make his opinions known, Josh Kelly hit at several points based on The Ring owner Turki Alalshikh’s statements surrounding “Tom and Jerry fights” where one fighter is deemed to be chasing after the other. In a recent interview with ThaBoxingVoice, Alalshikh would clarify his statements by claiming to have only wanted to push Shakur Stevenson (24-0, 11 KO’s) in his fight with William Zepeda to make him [and by extension other fighters who are regarded as “runners] less standoffish ― culminating in Stevenson receiving the well-deserved plaudits for eventually defeating Zepeda (33-1, 27 KO’s) soundly and taking away his “0”. Zepeda was arguably considered the top lightweight (135 lbs) contender in the division.
Seeing himself as a contender that could challenge for a world title, Kelly clearly seems to have a greater opinion of himself than expected, though his attempts to face Murtazaliev will likely not amount to much given the IBF’s recent order for Murtazaliev to face #1 IBF contender Erickson Lubin.
In any case, a solid opponent for Jaron Ennis has been found in Josh Kelly who carries plenty of experience and could therefore be a prevalent fight for Jaron Ennis to make his 154 lbs debut at. With enough convincing, even Alalshikh might potentially feature the fight on one of his cards to further magnify a challenging contest for both; or a merely well-hyped fight with Ennis set to be regarded as the heavy favorite and expected to handle Kelly thoroughly based on his ability.
With the fight making the cut to become WBO title eliminator according to Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn, the winner would face the prospect of facing Puerto Rican WBO champion Xander Zayas who attained the WBO belt this past weekend.
