{"id":368679,"date":"2026-01-14T04:26:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T04:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/368679\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T04:26:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T04:26:16","slug":"josh-kelly-feels-many-are-really-underrating-me-in-bakhram-murtazaliev-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/368679\/","title":{"rendered":"Josh Kelly Feels Many ‘Are Really Underrating Me’ In Bakhram Murtazaliev Fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Josh Kelly<\/a> wouldn\u2019t go as far as to label Bakhram Murtazaliev<\/a> overrated.
The unbeaten IBF junior middleweight champ\u2019s upcoming opponent does sense, though, that he has been undervalued as they advance toward their 12-round, 154-pound title fight January 31<\/a>. DraftKings lists Murtazaliev as a 4-1 favorite, but Kelly thinks the disrespect extends well beyond oddsmakers.
\u201cI think a lot of people are really, really underrating me,\u201d Kelly told The Ring<\/a>. \u201cPeople haven\u2019t seen me full potential yet, but [they\u2019re] underrating how good I am. And I\u2019m gonna show you, Bakhram. And I\u2019m gonna show everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

England\u2019s Kelly, 31, has won seven consecutive fights, all at or near the junior middleweight limit, since Russia\u2019s David Avanesyan stopped the 2016 Olympian in the sixth round of their 12-round welterweight bout in February 2021 in London. Kelly (17-1-1, 9 KOs) hasn\u2019t faced anyone as good as Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) since Avanesyan overpowered him, but the confident Brit believes he is a more skillful fighter than the champion.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a world-graded fighter,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cHe\u2019s got world-grade power. Every fighter needs to have that element to them to \u2026 compete at world level. I think I\u2019ve got more elements in my game, which take out his sort of world-class elements. But we\u2019re gonna see it all play out on fight night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s Murtazaliev, 33, will end a 15-month layoff when he encounters Kelly in a main event DAZN is set to stream from Utilita Arena in Newcastle, England. Murtazaliev brutalized Tim Tszyu throughout his last fight in October 2024 in Orlando, Florida, where he dropped the former WBO champ four times on his way to a third-round technical knockout.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lotta people [mention Murtazaliev\u2019s] punch power, but I punch hard, and I punch fast,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cAnd what you can\u2019t see coming is the shots that will hurt you, not necessarily the hard shots all the time. If you look at journeymen, they go through their career, and they\u2019re not really getting stopped because they\u2019re able to take hard shots, because they see them coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless, Kelly is eager to test himself against one of his division\u2019s most formidable fighters.<\/p>\n

The Ring ranks Murtazaliev fourth among its contenders for an unclaimed championship. Kelly isn\u2019t in The Ring\u2019s Top 10, but he is the mandatory challenger for Murtazaliev\u2019s IBF belt.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m willing to go against the odds,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cA hundred percent, I\u2019m willing to go against the odds. I take people\u2019s zeroes off \u2018em, so I\u2019m not fussed. I\u2019m in there, I know what I\u2019ve gotta deal with, I know how to deal with it and I\u2019m gonna enjoy it on fight night, and the big nights are coming after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing.<\/p>\n

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