Josh Kelly brutally exposed- what does he need to do next?

Discussion in 'British Boxing Forum' started by destruction, Feb 20, 2021.



  1. lencoreastside

    lencoreastside Obsessed with Boxing banned Full Member

    20,216
    5,004
    Dec 27, 2010
    Welcome :)
     
    Twentyman likes this.
  2. EJC83

    EJC83 Boxing Addict Full Member

    4,275
    6,500
    Jan 20, 2019
    What I always found a bit telling of how Kelly's career could pan out was his face. You look at his face, how it's changed and who he's fought and you just think that if he's getting his nose smashed up and getting marked up fighting those types of guys the second he fights someone a few levels up, carrying on with his poor defence, it's going to end badly. It did.
     
    Brixton Bomber likes this.
  3. Pjpodmore-04

    Pjpodmore-04 New Member Full Member

    4
    5
    Dec 8, 2019
    He needs to stop allowing people inside. His defense and work rate are not good enough to close up shop. I don't see many straight punches from him up the middle. Like where is the jab to break the opponents rhythm
    ? Where is the right hand mixed in to detour the opponent? You can't allow an inside fighter like Ava inside without earning his way inside.
     
    Twentyman likes this.
  4. jimmyonebomb

    jimmyonebomb Active Member Full Member

    804
    793
    Dec 5, 2010
    Its a hard one can see both sides, not that I agree with the act of drug dealing know a lot of scumbag drug dealers, but also know a lot who get involved as young lads (often pressured by older lads/fellas) and find it difficult to leave that scene. If peters left that behind then he's left it behind. Then theirs what drug are we talking about, people also import or grow large amounts of cannabis would we think of that the same as heroin, what about ecstacy tablets? I personally think we should make it all legal.

    There a re a lot of scumbags involved in drug dealing, people who are violent, bullies, exploit young kids to get involved, and others who get involved out of economic necessity, pressure from family grooming etc, so I don't think it's as straight forward as their all the same as a murderer (unless their also like a certain boxing manager who is actually responsible for ordering tens of murders). What about other industries like the arms industry? A fella working in an arms factory BAE weapons for instance is spending the whole day making weapons that have the sole aim of killing and maiming people (often civilians), he's probably indirectly responsible for many more deaths than a murderer. Around 30 thousand people die of alcohol abuse, what about those super strength cider makers who clearly make their product for alcoholics to drink themselves to death on?
     
  5. lencoreastside

    lencoreastside Obsessed with Boxing banned Full Member

    20,216
    5,004
    Dec 27, 2010
    Andy Lee used to swear by Adam Booth, but personally I can't see how Booth is all that great a trainer. His fighters have no defense. Plus he does come across s a bit of a weirdo, maybe a control freak or something. I dunno I just can't warm to the buy based in what little I've seen of him. Maybe I'm wrong. If anyone knows more by all means put me right...
     
    Arnie likes this.
  6. Furey

    Furey EST & REG 2009 Full Member

    16,252
    6,092
    Oct 18, 2009
    "Brutally exposed" ?

    He just fought Avanesyen in his what, 11th fight?

    No shame in that whatsoever. He's young and talented but I do think he's too big for the weight and should move to 154 where there is an abundance of good fights for him.
     
    ash016 likes this.
  7. micker1

    micker1 Member Full Member

    496
    347
    May 31, 2010
    Kelly fights with his hands down and has a poor engine. If he doesn't improve on both then he doesn't get to world level.

    Everytime he has stepped up he hasn't looked very good at all. He never did anything sat the Olympics. He got gifted a draw v Robinson and been stopped by avanesyn.

    I backed Kelly on points this weekend. I won't be doing that again. Avanesyn is an easy nights work for the elite welterweights . Kelly just isn't as good as I thought he would be.
     
    tee_birch likes this.
  8. tee_birch

    tee_birch Boxing Addict Full Member

    4,513
    4,499
    Jul 6, 2014
    I agree. Kelly will not be running background checks on what trainer to pick. He will pick the one he gels with best to get the most out of his career.
     
    Wizbit1013 and Twentyman like this.
  9. Dancoyr

    Dancoyr Member Full Member

    228
    325
    Sep 10, 2016
    Tonyhayers and that whyte fanatic quickly disappeared.
     
    velagod and Jurgen like this.
  10. DON1

    DON1 ICEMAN Full Member

    5,105
    1,069
    Apr 6, 2006
    Back to the drawing board. Ditch Booth, a good trainer BUT just doesn't suit his style. Haye and Groves were one-offs, both were immensely talented with POWER. He has talent but needs to get back to fundamentals. Somebody like Tibbs would be good, get him tight, solid, fit, and working off the jab. Eddie has been having a mare of late, some really bad matchmaking calls.
     
    Gatekeeper and destruction like this.
  11. BitPlayerVesti

    BitPlayerVesti Boxing Drunkie Full Member

    8,585
    11,046
    Oct 28, 2017
  12. Usercom

    Usercom Member banned Full Member

    173
    182
    Jan 24, 2020
    There is something I don't understand about the "Matchroom are having a meltdown narrative" every time one of their fighters lose.

    Lets look at the Josh Kelly scenario. He has looked bad prior to stepping up to fight Avanesyen against Robinson, however, he has the potential to be a headliner and he probably wants to get paid as one. What does Matchroom do:

    1. Drop the level of his opposition and let him fight another 3-5 soft touches so that he can win back the fans. This potentially allows them to preserve him as an asset for the future. However, Kelly and Booth will want him to be paid as a headliner so Matchroom has to foot the bill for another 12-18 months with no guarantee that Josh Kelly will ever fulfill his potential. Win for Kelly, but financial loss/burden for Matchroom.

    2. Let him fight the opponent Kelly and Booth thought they were ready to fight 2 years ago. If he wins, he would have justified being paid as a headliner and he actually becomes one and you have future fight dates with Benn and others another 18-24 months before he would have to be put in with world class opposition. Win/Win for Matchroom and Kelly.

    3. Kelly loses against Avanesyen. Loss for Kelly but a partial win for Matchroom as they don't have to pay Kelly what he would have been paid in either of the two options above and they also have Avanesyen signed which gives them a couple of fights to make up for the potential loss caused by Kelly losing.

    The first option is not something that Matchroom is interested in as they lose while Kelly wins financially. The second one has both Kelly and Matchroom winning. The third option has Kelly losing but Matchroom coming out in front.

    This is why the fight was held and Matchroom was adamant that it should be held. They were not going to be betting on potential with Kelly/Booth for the next couple of years while having a significant cost.

    In the end, boxing, and especially Matchroom is all about economics. Now if you want to talk about Matchroom taking a bath, you should be looking at Warrington and what they have committed to him and how the loss last week will cost them.
     
  13. Puroresu_Fan

    Puroresu_Fan Boxing Junkie Full Member

    7,802
    6,596
    Apr 6, 2016
    More importantly is a loss doesn't mean game over.

    Take Josh Warrington. No doubt Matchroom are paying him extremely well and he loses his first fight back under the promotional banner so to some it looks like money down the drain but that's not really the case.

    Josh Warrington losing doesn't suddenly mean when fans are allowed back in they will not buy tickets to watch Warrington fight. If anything a rematch was signed it would sell out within mins.

    Secondly what the network cares about is good fights and ratings. The fight delivered both.

    I would argue Warrington losing in a fight like that is better for Sky than Warrington winning a 12 round shut out. The networks job is to deliver entertaining fights for the viewers and wins and losses shouldn't be that important as viewers just want to watch exciting fights.

    Do Sky care Kelly lost? I would argue not so much as for them it was all about the fight delivering which it did.

    Do matchroom care? Well yes as they were building towards Kelly v Benn so that is on the back burner but this was a fight that had to happen and if we want the sport to where it should be then fighters losing should happen.

    There can only be one winner and if its evenly matched sometimes the the home fighter will get beat. That is sport.
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2021
    lencoreastside likes this.
  14. DramaShow

    DramaShow 19 banned Full Member

    7,149
    6,626
    Dec 22, 2020
    I think Kelly should fight Conor Benn next, it makes sense for both of them since they have beat similar level opponents.

    He could leave Booth and learn his trade from another trainer, maybe Dominic Ingle, who has got the best out of another skilful fighter in Kid Galahad.

    Another option would be to move up to 154.
     
    lencoreastside and destruction like this.
  15. Gatekeeper

    Gatekeeper Well-Known Member Full Member

    2,369
    2,973
    Oct 18, 2009
    The Adam Booth style can work very well if you have power like Haye and Groves did but even with those two there was always an issue of stamina, seems like Booth trains his fighters to put 100% force into every single punch, if you're in total control of a fight against a lesser opponent that's fine but when you're under pressure and getting hit like Kelly was on Saturday your gas tank can run out quick.
    Might be best for Josh if he hooked up with a trainer who can get the best out of fighters with speed and reflexes but average punch power.
     
    DON1 likes this.