Belfast’s Caoimhín Agyarko vowed he will “come again” after he fell short in his world title bid as Josh Kelly held on to his title with a unanimous points win in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
It was a tough, hard fight which Kelly began looking cocky and slick and finished a tired and bloody mess but he held on to his title against lion-hearted Agyarko.
The judges scored it 114-113, 115-112 and 115-112 for Kelly who was well ahead by the midway point but had to dig deep in the second half when Agyarko closed the distance and let his hands go with real purpose.
“I thought it was close going into the fifth/sixth,” said Agyarko whose stock has risen after impressing in only his second 12-round contest.
“I thought it was one-up to him or level and I thought I took over in the second half of the fight when I moved my feet and let my hands go. No excuses from me, it wasn’t good enough and I lost.
“Well done to Josh, he’s a great champion, very tricky, very awkward.
“I did think I won it but it wasn’t good enough for the judges so well done to Josh and his team.
“I’m just heartbroken, I could have made history tonight but I was in with a classy operator.
“I’ll come again, I’ll be the first black Irish world champion, I promise you that.”
Agyarko took time to settle into the contest and missed with a spiteful right hook in the opening minute. Kelly walked onto a crisp left jab in the final minute but landed a right hand before the bell to shade the opener.
Tentative Agyarko seemed wary of walking onto a shot from his fast-handed opponent. He landed a cuffing left hand early in the second but Kelly caught up with him towards the end of the second round, clipping him with a crisp right hand before the bell.
Kelly, comfortable with the range, used his slick skills to pick his opponent off and was able to slip away when Agyarko came forward and he dominated the third and fourth to extend his early advantage.
He went on the attack in the early stages of the fifth as Agyarko ducked for cover. However, Agyarko landed a right of his own that left his opponent cut under the left eye and Kelly was warned when he struck the Belfast challenger viciously on the back of the head.
The Sunderland native did the same in the sixth and was docked a point by referee Ignatius Missailidis.
The penalty narrowed the gap on the scorecards and Agyarko took confidence from Kelly’s loss of discipline and his workrate and improved in the next and in the eighth he cut loose and went after his opponent, who was now marked under both eyes, with two-handed attacks at close quarters.
Agyarko fought hard but came up just short
Momentum was with the former Holy Trinity fighter as the ninth began and Kelly started to look ragged as Agyarko closed the distance and launched furious attacks.
Crucially Kelly showed his heart and upped the ante in the 10th and a right uppercut speared through Agyarko’s guard as he attacked early in the round. Again Agyarko was unruffled, he fired out the jab and the cracked in hooks off both hands in another good finish to a round which ended with Kelly cut on the bridge of the nose.
Kelly complained to the referee and spat his gumshield out as the fighters clashed in the 11th and although the Englishman landed some clean shots an Agyarko left hand looped over his guard and crashed into his bloodied nose as the round ended.
Agyarko began the final round with a double left hook but Kelly answered with a combination of his own and was able to hold the brave Irishman off and do enough to hold onto his belt.