Josh Kelly resists Ishmael Davis’ onslaught to earn underwhelming win

Kelly, 16-1-1 (8 KOs), knew that a victory over former the WBO super welterweight champion Smith would have finally proven his world-class credentials but instead he found himself defending his reputation at middleweight against the confident, unbeaten, but relatively unknown, 29 year old from Leeds.

Drawing self-belief from his recent win over their common opponent Troy Williamson, Davis, 13-1 (6 KOs), cut a confident character throughout a busy fight week and after a troubled past, his choice of Bob Marley’s ‘Redemption Song’ as his entrance music was apt. A natural switch hitter, he came out as a southpaw and planted himself directly in front of Kelly, who tucked his chin behind his shoulder and immediately got Davis’ attention with a quick flurry.

Both fighters spent the first three minutes looking at each other but the roles were set, Davis edging forward, looking for openings, and Kelly moving away, hands down, looking to capitalise on every mistake. The second round was a repeat of the opener. Davis looked composed and calm but Kelly was operating fully in his comfort zone, stepping away from Davis’ attacks and landing snappy counter shots before smartly changing angles and repeating the process.

A smile passed over Kelly’s face in the third as he controlled a nondescript round but Davis did find a nice uppercut early in the fourth and managed to engage Kelly a little more in a closer round. As it ended Kelly made Davis miss with some beautiful head movement and briefly ran through the gears, but Davis will have relished the contact and went back to his corner with a smile on his face.

Although he was finding it hard to land anything meaningful, the slow-but-steady grind was getting Davis closer and closer, but while Kelly was doing little to dissuade him from pressing forwards, he was putting round after round in the bank. He boxed, moved, showboated and flicked out arm punches but refused to hold his feet and exchange. They were sensible tactics but frustrating for those who wanted to see him make a real statement.

Having taken the fight on short notice, Davis understandably held himself back from committing to an all-out attack but he had fallen into the trap of throwing single shots at a moving target and if he did land anything of note, Kelly made sure to flurry back and leave the lasting impression.

The action picked up slightly in the eighth. Davis managed to get close enough to put together a combination but Kelly quickly got himself out of trouble and fired back with a beautiful straight right hand. Maybe feeling that he had made a slight impression, Kelly opened the ninth in aggressive fashion, getting off with a sharp right hand and a left hook, but when Davis attempted to fire back, Kelly got back on the outside and began to pick, poke and move around the target. 

Kelly was fully in control, but clearly beginning to slow; Davis, however, just couldn’t get his feet close enough to force the pace, Kelly ended the 11th with a small cut over his left eye after a clash of heads.

The action was dwindling but Davis let everything go in the 12th. He hurt Kelly with a left hook and the Sunderland fughter’s legs betrayed him. He had been slowing for a number of rounds but suddenly appeared absolutely spent. His face a mask of blood, he moved and back-pedalled around the ring, clinching at every opportunity. He made it to the end of the round but, for Kelly, it was a disappointing end to an underwhelming fight.

The scores, also, were closer than expected. Keiran Parker scored a draw at 114-114. He was overruled by Mark Bates’ 115-113, and Victor Loughlin’s 115-114 that made Kelly the winner by majority decision.