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Josh Kelly insists that size is the least of his concerns ahead of his middleweight fight with Liam Smith, set for Sept. 21 at London’s Wembley Stadium.
After turning professional at 147 pounds, Kelly (15-1-1, 8 KOs) has spent the last two years reinventing himself at 154 but will step up to middleweight to fight the experienced, tough Smith.
A former WBO titleholder at junior middle, Smith spent the vast majority of his own career at 154 pounds, only really committing to the move up when the opportunity to fight Chris Eubank Jr. presented itself. Smith looked outstanding as he blew Eubank away in four rounds last January but was a shadow of his usual self in the rematch and was stopped in the 10th.
“I think I’m a big 154[-pounder] and I don’t think Liam is a legit 160,” Kelly told Queensberry. “It makes sense at 160. I don’t think he’ll ever make 154 – certainly not for this fight – so it made sense for me to come up to 160.
“I’ve always spoken the truth and I’ve always said what I’ve said. I’m not shying away from any fights. I might be called ‘Pretty Boy,’ but I can also fight. It’s gonna be a great night on the 21st. You could be in for a surprise.”
Given where both fighters are in their careers, the fight is an intriguing crossroads battle, but for most, Kelly’s 2021 loss to David Avanesyan is the starting point of the analysis.
After a protracted, tense build-up, Kelly began the European welterweight title fight well but was steadily ground down by the calm, quality pressure fighting of Avanesyan. Kelly came apart in the sixth round, and his trainer, Adam Booth, correctly threw in the towel.
It was the type of defeat that has continued to linger over Kelly’s career, mainly because it confirmed a lot of the preconceived notions many held about the 2016 Olympian.
Kelly disappeared from sight for 16 months and reappeared in the division above. In December 2022, he signed up for another pressure test and neutralized strong, aggressive British champion Troy Williamson over 12 impressive rounds.
Smith – and Avanesyan – apply a much higher-caliber of suffocation than the powerful Williamson, but the 30-year-old Kelly believes that he has put to bed the idea that he struggles when he isn’t able to dictate the pace of a fight.
Smith has brought up the Avanesyan fight during pre-fight talk, but Kelly thinks that continuing to judge him on that night is a bad mistake. Kelly points out that he isn’t creating a game plan based upon Smith’s uncharacteristically tame performance in his rematch with Eubank.
“I think that’s all been squashed since I boxed Troy,” Kelly said. “Troy put on a lot more pressure than Avanesyan ever did. You can tell by the way I boxed through the Avanesyan fight – that wasn’t me.
“If I was going to look at Liam and start dissecting his last performance against Chris Eubank … I don’t think that’s Liam.
“He’s being a bit of a hypocrite. He’s saying, ‘People shouldn’t take that off my last performance.’ So why take that from that when I’ve come through and beat bigger, stronger and more aggressive people since? I did 12 rounds three, four, five times. He knows the score, but listen, we’ll find out on the 21st, won’t we?”
John Evans has contributed to a number of well-known publications and websites for over a decade. You can follow John on X @John_Evans79