Joshua "Josh" Kelly (born 7 March 1994) is an English professional boxer. He has held the IBF light-middleweight title since January 2026. He is a former British light-middleweight and Commonwealth welterweight title holder. As an amateur, he competed in the men's welterweight event at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2015 European Games, in which he won a bronze medal.
Amateur career Representing Great Britain, Kelly won a bronze medal in the 69 kg category at the 2015 European Games in Azerbaijan, losing in the semi-finals to the host nation's eventual champion Parviz Baghirov.
The following year he was selected for the Rio Olympics, where he lost in the round-of-16 to Kazakhstan's Daniyar Yeleussinov who went on to win the gold medal.
Professional career Kelly's first fight as a professional was a six rounds points victory (59–55) against Jay Byrne (4–1) of Dublin in April 2017 at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow on the undercard of Ricky Burns vs. Julius Indongo.
Kelly won his next two fights in the next two months, defeating Spain's Jony Vila (6–1) and Gateshead's Tom Whitfield (4–1) by fourth-round stoppage and first-round knockout respectively. The Vila fight took place at the Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham in May whilst the Whitfield fight took place at the Walker Activity Dome, Newcastle in June, with his fight being the main event.
Kelly finished the year with a record of 5–0 after victories over Mexico's Jose Luis Zuniga (13–2–1) and France's Jean Michel Hamilcaro (25–8–3), winning by second-round stoppage and sixth-round stoppage respectively in October and December. Those fights took place at the SSE Arena, Belfast and the York Hall, London.
Kelly vs. Robinson On June 1, 2019, Kelly fought Ray Robinson, who was ranked #13 by the WBC and #15 by the WBO at welterweight. Kelly was ranked #9 by the WBA at welterweight. The contest was even and ended up in a majority draw, with one scorecard going in favour of Kelly, 96–94, while the other two read 95–95 twice.
Kelly vs. Campos In his next fight, Kelly fought Wiston Campos. Kelly won the bout via unanimous decision. The scorecards read 99–90, 99–90 and 98–91.
Kelly vs. Avanesyan In his next fight, Kelly fought highly ranked welterweight and reigning European Champion David Avanesyan, who was ranked #6 by the IBF, #7 by the WBC, #9 by the WBA and #10 by the WBO at the time. Avanesyan showed to be the better man on the night and finished Kelly within six rounds.
Kelly vs. Williamson Kelly won the British light-middleweight title by beating defending champion Troy Williamson by unanimous decision at Newcastle Arena on 2 December 2022.
Kelly vs. Davis Kelly was scheduled to face Liam Smith at Wembley Stadium in London, England on 21 September 2024. On 13 September 2024 it was reported that the latter withdrew due to illness. On 16 September 2024 it was announced that Smith was replaced by Ishmael Davis. Kelly won by majority decision winning the two judges awarding the fight to him and the third scoring it as a draw.
Kelly vs. Biea At Newcastle Arena on 6 June 2025, he defeated Flavius Biea by first-round stoppage. Kelly knocked his opponent to the canvas and, although Biea got back to his feet, the referee decided he was not fit to continue and waved off the contest.
Kelly vs. Murtazaliev Kelly challenged IBF light-middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev at Newcastle Arena on 31 January 2026. Throughout the fight, Kelly fought off of the backfoot, scoring countershots as Murtazaliev attempted to pressure him and force him against the ropes with hard shots. In the fourth round, Kelly scored a knockdown, while Murtazaliev returned the favor in the ninth. After 12 rounds, Kelly won the world title via majority decision, with judges scorecards of 115–111, 114–113, and the third scoring it a 113–113 draw, thus becoming the first boxer from Sunderland to become a world champion.
Kelly vs. Agyarko Kelly made the first defense of his title against Caoimhín Agyarko at Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 25 July 2026, winning by unanimous decision.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes21WinCaoimhín AgyarkoUD1225 Jul 202620WinBakhram MurtazalievMD1231 Jan 202619Win17–1–1Flavius BieaKO1 (10), 6 Jun 202518Win16–1–1Ishmael Davis1221 Sep 202417Win15–1–1Placido RamirezKO3 (12), 16 Dec 202316Win14–1–1Gabriel Alberto CorzoUD1215 Jul 202315Win13–1–1Troy WilliamsonUD122 Dec 202214Win12–1–1Lucas BastidaUD1030 Jul 202213Win11–1–1Peter KramerTKO4 (10), 17 Jun 202212Loss10–1–1David AvanesyanTKO6 (12), 20 Feb 202111Win10–0–1Wiston CamposUD1020 Dec 201910Draw9–0–1Ray Robinson101 Jun 20199Win9–0Przemyslaw RunowskiUD1020 Apr 20198Win8–0Walter Fabian CastilloTKO1 (10), 10 Nov 20187Win7–0Kris George7 (12), 16 Jun 20186Win6–0Carlos Molina1031 Mar 20185Win5–0Jean Michel HamilcaroTKO6 (10), 13 Dec 20174Win4–0Jose Luis ZunigaTKO2 (6), 21 Oct 20173Win3–0Tom Whitfield1 (8), 23 Jun 20172Win2–0Jony Vina4 (6), 13 May 20171Win1–0Jay Byrne615 Apr 2017
See also List of male boxers List of British world boxing champions List of world light-middleweight boxing champions
References
External links
Josh Kelly - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings at Box.Live