Josh Kelly says Bakhram Murtazaliev doesn’t rattle him. He sounds relaxed, and staying loose is fine for the walk to the ring, but it won’t matter much once the fight settles.
Kelly talks about intimidation as a mental thing, but Murtazaliev relies on pressure, distance control, and forcing opponents to stay close. He takes space away and makes opponents work at short range, where his power shows up. Kelly has been there before.
In 2021, David Avanesyan stayed on him. Kelly didn’t fold or panic and tried to work through the pressure, but the fight never opened up. The shots kept landing, the damage piled up, and Kelly took more than he could sustain. By the fifth round it was showing. A round later, his corner had seen enough.
Murtazaliev is that same problem, only with more weight behind his punches. He applies pressure and does damage once he gets close. His stoppage of Tim Tszyu last October made that clear. Tszyu had not been handled that way before, and the fight ended quickly once Murtazaliev closed distance.
Kelly’s seven fight win streak since that loss has been a solid rebuild. It restored confidence, but it didn’t answer the same question. None of those opponents were punchers who could force him to fight at close range for long stretches.
Being calm helps when a fighter controls pace and space. It helps less when staying close becomes the fight. Against Murtazaliev, those moments tend to favor one side.
Kelly doesn’t lose because he stops believing. He runs into trouble when he gets stuck in territory he can’t manage, and Murtazaliev is built to keep opponents there.
Fight details
Josh Kelly vs Bakhram Murtazaliev
IBF junior middleweight title fight
Saturday, January 31
Newcastle, England
Broadcast: DAZN
Main card starts 11 a.m. ET
Murtazaliev vs Kelly running order
- Leo Atang vs Amine Boucetta, heavyweights, 4 rounds
- Elif Nur Turhan vs Taylah Gentzen, lightweights, 10 rounds, for Nur Turhan’s IBF title
- Josh Padley vs Jaouad Belmehdi, super featherweights, 12 rounds, for vacant European title
- Bakhram Murtazaliev vs Josh Kelly, super welterweights, 12 rounds, for Murtazaliev’s IBF title
