AFTER weeks of back-and-forth, Josh Kelly may be on the verge of a world title challenge, due to cancelled purse bids last night. Although, it remains to be seen whether Kelly is truly interested in a title shot.
Kelly, 17-1-1 (9 KOs), had been rumoured for a showdown with IBF super-welterweight world champion Bakhram Murtazaliev, 23-0 (17 KOs), but the latter informed Boxing News last month that Kelly and his team had stopped communicating.
Instead, it was being touted that Murtazaliev would make an attempted second defence of his world title against the IBF’s mandatory challenger Erickson Lubin, 27-2 (19 KOs), with purse bids ordered for that proposed contest.
Yet, whispers of Lubin’s plans to pull out of the fight in favour of a clash against Vergil Ortiz, 23-0 (21 KOs), soon emerged and last night were proven to be accurate, as the scheduled purse bids for Murtazaliev-Lubin were cancelled.
Now, with Lubin out of the picture, the IBF have ordered Murtazaliev to take on the next highest ranked and available contender, which happens to be Sunderland’s Kelly.
Speaking exclusively to Boxing News, Murtazaliev explained that the disappointment of cancelled fights and plans is nothing new to him.
“I thought so [Lubin was a done deal] too, but he ran away as well. It’s been like this my whole career. Now Kelly has the opportunity to fight me, if he really wants it, but so far it has been quiet.”
Today, on social media, Kelly appeared to confirm his interest in the bout, labelling Murtazaliev as his ‘next target’.
Despite being well-aligned for a maiden title challenge, Kelly has also shown interest in a domestic dust-up with Conor Benn, who is scheduled to rematch Chris Eubank Jr. on Saturday, November 15, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London.
Should Kelly agree to take on Murtazaliev, there would be no better location than as the co-main event on that card, with the opportunity to steal the show and lure Benn into a fight – especially if he is able to dethrone the undefeated Russian.
