NO sooner had Josh Kelly dispatched Flavius Biea, a vastly overmatched opponent, than the Sunderland man threw down his gauntlet in pursuit of a clash with Conor Benn.
The super-welterweight contender extended his unbeaten run last night, securing a first-round stoppage victory at the Newcastle Arena, England.
His emphatic performance followed a majority decision win over Ishmael Davis, with the judges’ scorecards doing little to reflect their vastly one-sided encounter last September.
But this time around, ‘Pretty Boy’ was seemingly determined to produce a clinical finish, so much so that Biea was given no time to even find his range.
It was one of Kelly’s signature left hooks, in fact, that saw the Romanian hit the canvas, and with around two minutes still left of that round, the writing was most certainly on the wall.
Sure enough, referee Reece Carter drew a halt shortly after Biea scrambled back to his feet, allowing Kelly, 17-1-1 (9 KOs), to make blistering work of his outing.
But before exiting the venue, the 31-year-old made sure to express his interest in perhaps the most lucrative matchup on his radar.
“If it’s a big domestic fight, [I want] Benn,” he said in his post-fight interview.
“If it’s not Benn, if he doesn’t want to take that fight, then it’ll be a big world title fight.
“In every governing body I’m ranked number four or number three, two in some governing bodies.
“I’m there. I’ve been knocking on the door for some time. I’m in my prime now. Let me run, let me run.”
Since losing to David Avanesyan back in 2021, Kelly has climbed up the rankings at 154lbs and now sits just behind mandatory challenger Erickson Lubin with the IBF.
Before long, the flashy slickster could be presented with an opportunity to face IBF world champion Bakhram Murtazaliev, who many consider to be the bogeyman at super-welterweight.
