Josh Kelly Easily Claims British Title from Troy Williamson!
In a very important battle for the BBBofC junior middleweight crown, the title holder Troy “Trojan” Williamson (19-1-1, 14KOs) and Josh “Pretty Boy” Kelly (13-1-1, 7KOs) engaged in a battle to the delight of the fans.
RELATED: Troy Williamson v Josh Kelly: Fight Preview & Prediction
Many inside the boxing community feel this is a must-win situation for Pretty Boy. He was once viewed as the next hot fighter before getting taken down a few rungs on the ladder. In 2019, his draw to welterweight fringe contender Ray Robinson had fans screaming “robbery” in favor of Robinson. Then he came under heavy fire after being knocked out by David Avanesyan in 2021. Now competing in a new division, he has picked up two straight wins in hopes of regaining his spot.
Trojan is a man on a mission who ranks in the top ten with the WBO and IBF. He is looking to make a run for a title shot. In 2019, he captured the vacant IBF European title by stopping Dario Socci. Yet, his performance against Ted Cheeseman to win the BBBofC crown via late stoppage caught the eyes of the boxing community. Williamson questioned the heart of Kelly, and he wanted to put that theory to the test.
THE HAND SPEED WAS KEY
Kelly’s hand speed was the key from the moment the bell sounded. He started the fight out by landing right uppercuts that rocked Williamson. He looked very relaxed and comfortable as he avoided wild punches before ripping off hook counters, followed by a right hook to the body.
Williamson landed a solid right hand in round four that caught Kelly’s attention. Yet as the fight continued, it was all Kelly, who couldn’t miss with the uppercut. He was attacking without fear, landing a barrage of punches that had his opponent’s legs wobbly with each landed shot. This was a constant theme of the fight going into the middle rounds.
KELLY FOUGHT LIKE A PUPPET MASTER
Kelly was unbothered to the point he never sat down on the stool and was dancing in the corner between the rounds. The fight quickly became a glorified sparring session, with Kelly moving around the ring nicely, taking potshots with hook counters. Moreover, he did a good job of holding Williamson whenever in close quarters.
Trojan failed to put any pressure at all on Kelly. He even tried to box, which is not his calling card. Williamson continued getting peppered by the same uppercut and encountered more counterpunches throughout the championship rounds.
MINOR DRAMA AVERTED
Pretty Boy fought like a British version of retired Hall of Famer Floyd Mayweather. He took advantage of Williamson’s lack of ring IQ by landing repeated uppercuts from mid-range distance. There was some drama as he suffered a cut above the head that came into view after a clinch.
Nevertheless, Kelly closed the fight the same way he started – using the hand speed to land those right uppercuts and left hook combinations. The judge’s scorecards were 119-109, 119-111, and 118-110, all for Pretty Boy.
By: Garrisson Bland
