The facts: March 28th, part of a "monster show" being promised by Eddie Hearn. Likely @ the 02 Arena. The current EBU welterweight champion is rated WBC #4, IBF and WBA #6, and WBO #9 at 147lbs. The former British amateur star is WBC #14 and WBA #11. IB's editorial spin: Ava v2.0 will absolutely destroy the versions of Kelly we saw in the ring in 2019 (deservedly drawing with Ray Robinson in June, and then laboring to a UD over Wiston Antonio Campos Torrez (a chinny Nicaraguan slugger and blown-up lightweight) in December. It will be savage while it lasts, and may not reach the halfway mark. Kelly might quit the sport afterwards.
Kelly is one of the biggest wastes of talent ive seen recently. Dude, you're NOT Sergio friggin Martinez. Put your friggin hands up and go back and pick up the basic fundamentals. Perfect example of a guy with too much athleticism and talent for his own good, it completely ruined his development.
Contrast with a guy like Ava, who, though heavy-handed, lacks half the athleticism Kelly was blessed with and yet displays a great deal more applied technical skill and loads more will.
I've been pretty impressed with Avanesyan's resurgence as of late. But let's be honest here, Lejarraga, who I was a big fan of precisely due to his hyper aggressive David Lemieux style of fighting, which played right into Ava's hands. Kelly's will not. Pretty Boy will stay on the backfoot throughout, and tie up if buzzed. And sadly will win a decision, arguably one he doesn't deserve in the UK. So, I'm not getting my hopes up.
Wiston Campos = tough southpaw with C+ overall ability; Kelly eked out a dreary points nod over ten, lost a round or two, dropped a tiring Campis in the final but couldn't put him away. José Del Rio = tough southpaw with C+ overall ability, virtually a clean apples-to-apples proxy for Campos; Ava 2.0 got in that rectum & wrecked 'im with utmost savagery in two dominant minutes. Fuck athleticism.
Come on man, you saw the same Robinson fight I did (and had it a draw). Kelly got walked down, out-hustled, and dragged into a dog-fight (all your own words from the RBR descriptions, btw ) wherein he got tagged up, to head and body, by somebody who (while I like Ray) isn't half as aggressive or hard hitting as Ava.
I'm also not forgetting that Robinson legit deserved that draw against Kavaliauskas, and that Kavaliauskas beat the living **** out of and stopped David. While triangle theories aren't applicable here either. I think David is still around that level and that Kerman was just overrated and glass jawed. It wouldn't disappoint me in the least if you were spot on, but I think Kelly, while he's not great at all, is quite a bit better than Lejarraga and stylistically will probably be more of an issue for David.
