Adam Smith gave his immediate reaction to Josh Kelly becoming a world champion on Saturday.
Smith commentated most of Kelly’s fights during his journey on Sky Sports and was ringside for his bout with Bakhram Murtazaliev on Saturday.
He came into the fight as a wide underdog despite fighting in front of a home crowd in Newcastle.
Murtazaliev was unbeaten with 17 stoppages and the IBF super welterweight world champion going into the contest.
Despite not being the favourite, Kelly ripped up the script and dethroned the current champion.
He boxed well over 12 rounds on the back foot for the majority of the fight.
Kelly put Murtazaliev down in the fourth round before being dropped himself with a strong right hand in the ninth.
‘PBK’ appeared hurt and did well to get off the canvas to beat the count.
Smith spoke to Pro Boxing Fans on the win.
“He was in there with a monster.
“In with a guy that has never lost in 23 fights with 17 knockouts.
“He was a world champion, who walked through Tim Tszyu and a lot of people thought that Josh wouldn’t have the mental strength.
“I think everybody was concerned about that and also how good Murtazaliev was, I think Josh boxed really well tonight.”
Many believed the Russian would have too much for Kelly and Smith revealed what went wrong with his performance.
“Yes, Murtazaliev had his moments, he kept on coming forward, he was game and he was brave but I don’t think he threw enough combinations, I don’t think he cut off the ring well.
“When Josh got into a rhythm, I think he boxed really well off of the back foot.
“I thought it was a handy lead and the last few rounds are always the nervy parts for a fighter who bases himself on skill maybe rather than the aggressive power.”
Coming into the fight Kelly had just one loss on his resume, coming to David Avanesyan back in 2021, where he was stopped in the sixth round.
“It’s all the more sweet because of what Josh has gone through.
“When he first came onto the scene he’d had a brilliant amateur career, was a sparkling prospect.
“I think there was huge hopes that Sky was going to turn him into a pay-per-view fighter.
“He has got the looks, he’s got the chat, the story, the talent and it just didn’t quite work out like that.”
“Obviously we know what happened with the Avanesyan fight, he took some time off.
“He has found the right weight and matured as a man.”
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