Josh Kelly Wins IBF Title in Newcastle

At Newcastle Arena in Newcastle, Tyne & Wear, UK, Matchroom Boxing presented a DAZN card on Saturday night headlined by an IBF junior middleweight title fight between Bakhram Murtazaliev and Josh Kelly.

In the main event, Josh Kelly won the IBF super welterweight title with a majority decision over Bakhram Murtazaliev after 12 rounds. Scores were 113-113, 115-111, and 114-113.

Kelly and Murtazaliev both scored knockdowns in a competitive fight. In the fourth round, Kelly landed a jab that knocked Murtazaliev off balance, resulting in a count. Kelly did not press the action afterward and moved for the remainder of the round. In the ninth round, Murtazaliev dropped Kelly with a left hand, sending Kelly down for a count before he boxed cautiously to the bell.

Kelly had success early with movement and counters. He drew blood from Murtazaliev’s nose in the second round and opened a small cut on Murtazaliev’s left cheekbone in the sixth. Murtazaliev applied pressure throughout and finished several rounds strongly, particularly late in the fight. Kelly landed a brief combination in the final round that appeared to sway the scoring.

In the chief support bout, Josh Padley stopped Jaouad Belmehdi at 2:35 of the second round to win the vacant EBU European super featherweight title. Padley dropped Belmehdi with a left hook midway through the round, then scored a second knockdown with a right hand, prompting the stoppage.

In women’s action, IBF lightweight champion Elif Nur Turhan defeated Taylah Gentzen by split decision over 10 two-minute rounds. Scores were 98-92 and 96-94 for Turhan, with Gentzen winning one card 97-93. Turhan was warned for rough tactics during the middle rounds. Gentzen suffered a small cut from a clash of heads and boxed effectively at range, but Turhan closed strongly.

At lightweight, Josh Blenkiron defeated Robbie Coleman over 10 rounds to win the vacant BBBofC Northern Area lightweight title. The referee scored the bout 96-95.

At heavyweight, Leo Atang stopped Amine Boucetta at 0:39 of the third round of a scheduled four. Atang dominated throughout and dropped Boucetta with a right hand followed by a left hook, after which Boucetta was counted out.

Other results:

• Bradley Casey defeated Lee Roberts over four rounds. Score: 40-36.
• Lee Roy Rogers defeated Erick Omar Lopez over six rounds. Score: 60-54.
• Kiaran MacDonald defeated Marius Vysniauskas over four rounds. Score: 40-35.

Ring announcer: David Diamante.