Josh Kelly Overcomes Final Round Scare in Otherwise Dull Fight Against Ishmael Davis

Josh Kelly (16-1-1, 8 KOs) overcame a turbulent twelfth round to defeat Ishmael Davis (13-1, 6 KOs) via majority decision in a lacklustre fight.

While one judge saw the action a 114-114 draw, the other two had it 115-113 and 115-114 for Kelly. “Pretty Boy” was originally set to face Liam Smith. However, an injury to the Liverpudlian led to Davis stepping in – to take on Kelly in a middleweight contest. Prior to receiving the call, Davis had been preparing for a bout against Uisma Lima on the Jack Catterall vs. Regis Prograis card in October.

The fight took place on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois heavyweight world title contest at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Boxing fans could catch the action as a pay-per-view on DAZN and PPV.com. Those in the United Kingdom could also do so with Sky Sports and TNT Sports.

Joshua vs. Dubois is part of Riyadh Season, a Saudi Arabian state-funded entertainment and sports festival. The Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority is responsible for its organization.

Josh Kelly Overcomes Scare in Otherwise Dull Fight Against Ishmael Davis

Fight Recap

Kelly stuck to moving off the backfoot in the early rounds, moving around the ring and having his opponent chase him. Though not a lot was being thrown, Kelly had the most success throwing punches. Davis appeared hesitant to let his hands go.

As the fight progressed, not much changed from the early rounds. Kelly continued to move around the ring and won rounds by simply being slightly more active. Not only was Davis throwing very little, but whatever he did throw barely impacted Kelly.

Davis went for broke in the final round to get the knockout. Unlike earlier, he let his hands go as he pursued Kelly. The approach resulted in Kelly bleeding from the bridge of his nose in addition to a cut that had appeared by the left eye earlier in the bout from a head clash. It was all for nought, however, as Kelly held on and moved around to stay on his feet, eventually leading to him winning a majority decision.

How a judge saw this fight as a draw will leave some to scratch their heads. Aside from the final round, Davis did very little. While Kelly was also not throwing much, it was still more than whatever Davis was doing.

Post-Fight Interview

Josh Kelly

“I got caught,” said Kelly about the final round. “The blood was blurring me out. I couldn’t see…as it was coming down. Vision was gone. Wasn’t necessarily a hard shot. It was a clean shot, don’t get me wrong…He’s a strong, decent kid but I thought as I was going into the last round that I couldn’t lose the fight.”