Josh Kelly: The Pretty Boy Of Tyne And Wear-Machine Gun Kelly The Adonis Of Sunderland.

I was thinking of doing a thread on this dude the other day, he's bad ass! He's got a superb blend of offense and defense and can whip up some great combinations in quick fashion.. I hope to really see him do some big things in boxing in the future.

 

I HIGHLY doubt he has ever or will ever share a ring with another boxer that he doesn't seriously outclass in the god-given ability, natural talent, and athleticism departments. Whatever anyone's reason is for watching boxing or for supporting the fighters that they support doesn't matter, anyone could watch 1 cumulative minute of this kid's fights and know for a fact that this kid was blessed with every athletic gift a fighter could conceivably be blessed with and then some.

Basic boxing techniques, fundamentals, and skills: pretty much the boxing field manual that started when boxing did and through endless fighter's trials and tribulations has evolved into what it is today - the tried, true, and time-tested list of rules to follow to a "t", list of things one should NEVER do, and list of skills that should be earned by all boxers competing in any form of competitive boxing, ie not just hitting a weighted bag. They are what will work the best for the most people. I'd be willing to bet not a single ATG, HOF'er, or great has ever achieved their boxing status and given "the basics" the Yao Ming face and thought "screw that" and went out and winged it. Arguably, the absolute greatest boxers ever took "the basics" and applied all of them to their style but made personal tweaks and adjustments to them to better suit them. After boxing for a while, fighters should know what feels right to them and what doesn't and since we are all different they should adjust accordingly.

The "basics" part is where my skepticism arises with this kid. Like I said, do what feels best to you as a fighter, but even still, in the basic field manual there is a list of things NEVER to do, like don't ever ****ing do these dumb ****ing things and even if you don't learn anything else, just DON'T DO THESE. Small, simple list. Not hard. Kelly comes flying into world blessed with precision-guided nukes, while most people that are successful in his seemingly predetermined profession were born with fire crackers and are still using them. Looks at the NEVER TO DO list, only list written in red ink, gives them the Yao Ming face and completely disregards 2-3 of them. What's worse is that he seemingly gave them the finger for the sole benefit of flash. Flash isn't substance, it's just flash. Only "first time at the rodeo" people get impressed with flash. I guess when you are blessed with the gifts he was blessed with, you can get to a certain point and still be considered a "can't miss" or "blue chip" prospect while disrespecting the manual.

I want to see this kid succeed, and nobody can question the fact that physically he was gifted with an almost endless amount of talent and athleticism, but the stuff in red ink is there for a reason. I can't possibly NOT see this getting savagely worked and put to sleep on the canvas mattress. His natural talent and athleticism will jump at anyone, even if they don't know anything about boxing, it's mesmerizing stuff, and they will demand to see him against the best on that alone. I've seen his international AM boxing results and record. I can't exactly remember all of it but I remember him falling short every time he entered international world-class tournaments and events. I can promise anyone, he never fell short nor will he ever fall short against an opponent physically. Physically, he's got guns and pretty much everyone else has knives. It will be because of the red ink stuff, I can 100% guarantee it. Then again, maybe that's what he needs to happen for him to reach/come close to fulfilling his potential. Wake up calls have helped plenty of boxers in the long run in the sports history. Make no mistake though, this kid is FOR CERTAIN destined for the losing end of at least one highlight reel in his pro career.

 

Josh kelly and josh taylor have a bright future in this sport. I like both of their styles. I think taylor will be ready for a title shot by the end of next year. I look forward to following both of their careers.

 

I agree with Josh Taylor. He's nowhere near Kelly's league in the athletically gifted and talented categories, but not many if any are. He's still got a ton of gifted athletic ability and talent in his own right, and technically he's as sound as one can get. Definitely think Taylor will be a multiple weight world champ and p4p star for a long time. O'Hara Davies is no joke, dude can fight his proverbial balls off. The way Taylor broke him down screams "future star for long time!"

 

Josh Taylor is technically superior to Josh Kelly if less athletically gifted in the upper body. Taylor is more athletic in the footwork department though. Britian have produced those hands low, athletically talented, elusive guys before but I've never seen a fighter like Taylor come out the UK before . Taylor is actually the unique one out of the two.

 

Ya I fully agree he's far more unique. Necessity and convenience dictate most everything, so when a boxer comes around that is extremely gifted with natural talent and athletic ability, but who also puts in the work to hone his technical skills and ability...... You got an extremely rare fighter. Guys as gifted as these two rarely come around that often, especially from the same area (northern England/Scotland) and at the same time.

Footwork is a skill though, and I totally agree with you, Taylor - along with most all other skills - blows Kelly out of the water. Foot speed, hand speed - those are natural athletic gifts, along with pretty much whatever else Kelly brings to the ring with him. I'm not saying he has zero skill - he has some obviously - but he isn't skilled at all for the world class level, and blatantly disregards a few of the rules of WHAT NOT TO DO and has not only got away with it to this point, but is seen as a top prospect despite it.

Without question Kelly is a generational talent athletically and going by god-given ability, and as gifted and athletically as Taylor is, he's still nowhere near Kelly's league and I don't think anyone is. Problem is, fighters need to hone and develop the fundamentals when they are young, once they develop into a man, it's EXTREMELY difficult for them to change thereafter. Kelly is, IMO, two or three leagues above Taylor as an athlete, in all of boxing he's still probably in his own league in those things. But boxing is both a sport and legitimate combat. It's tough to succeed in any sport on natural talent and unreal athleticism alone but still doable, it's pretty much impossible to succeed in boxing on those things alone, especially when you look at the "Boxing's DO NOT DO LIST" and laugh it off and disregard.

If I could bet without throwing my life into another spiral, I would put it all on Taylor being a multiple weight world champ, unified champ, and p4p star for a very long time.

Kelly - I doubt it if he even makes it out of Europe before a punch midget tosses he and his career out of the ring forever.

 

Good post.

Kelly is a bit of a freak talent wise. People are saying he has similarities to Jones and Naz but I see a bit of Nicolino Locche in there too. I'm with you in thinking he's going to struggle and maybe even be exposed pre world class level. I wasn't that impressed with his last performance due to the way he struggled to close the guy down. I know the guy he fought was super negative with his movement but he also posed zero threat as his offence was pathetic. Taylor would have closed that guy off at will and murdered him. Judging by the Taylor vs Vasquez fight that guy Kelly fought wouldn't have went past 2 rounds with Taylor. That's the difference between them, and it's what you get in the ring when you combine world class natural talent with world class technique and serious grit.

Most of the UK fans are drooling over footage of Kelly more so than Taylor but I personally think Taylor is the better to watch out of the two. His style of fighting is slick but also very aggressive and I love his body work. David Haye who trained with Taylor got it right when he described Taylor as being like a slick American but he's also as tough as nails like a Mexican. For a white guy Taylor seems to be big time impressing a lot of the pro slick and black channels on youtube which is rare. In fact its very rare for a guy from Europe and especially the UK to impress some of these racist idiots as much as he has.

 

I rate this guy highly, really enjoy watching him.... However I have know idea if he will ever be a world class fighter, he certainly has all the talent for it. I will judge him down the line when he reaches a level of fighter who can match him.

 

Just saw PBK on a JD Sports ad on telly. Crazy he's getting these sponsorships after 5 fights. There are loads of seasoned world champs who don't even get that kind of advertising deal.

 

Big step up. Molina never stopped. @CST80

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Good step up for Kelly looking forward to it..is this the first time he will be fighting at 147 as pro?

 

Second time.
For the vacant World Boxing Association International Welterweight Title

 

Taylor & Kelly are the two best prospects in the UK. I suspect both champions in waiting.. Buatsi looks good too.

 

Oh he is from Sunderland? Im sick of the place full of bloody roadworks, so i hope he loses.