Josh Kelly overcomes the horror of the last round in an otherwise boring fight

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

While one judge saw the score as a draw at 114-114, the other two scored the score 115-113 and 115-114 for Kelly. “Pretty Boy” was originally scheduled to face Liam Smith. However, an injury to the Liverpool native led to Davis stepping in to challenge Kelly in a middleweight bout. Prior to the decision, Davis had been preparing for a fight against Uisma Lima on the Jack Catterall vs. Regis Prograis card in October.

The fight took place as the support act for the heavyweight world title fight between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Boxing fans around the world were able to watch the action on pay-per-view on DAZN and PPV.com. In the UK, it was also available on Sky Sports and TNT Sports.

Joshua vs. Dubois is part of the Riyadh Season, an entertainment and sports festival funded by the Saudi Arabian government and organized by the Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority.

Josh Kelly overcomes the horror in an otherwise boring fight against Ishmael Davis

Fight review

Kelly stuck to the back foot for the early rounds, moving around the ring and letting his opponent chase him. Although there wasn't much striking going on, it was Kelly who was most successful when throwing punches. Davis seemed hesitant to let go of his hands.

As the fight continued, not much changed from the first few rounds. Kelly continued to move around the ring and win rounds simply by being a little more active. Not only did Davis throw very little, whatever he threw had little effect on Kelly.

Davis went all out in the final round to score a knockout. Unlike before, he let his hands go as he pursued Kelly. The result of this approach was that Kelly was bleeding from the bridge of his nose and also sustained a cut to his left eye from a head clash earlier in the fight. It was all for naught, however, as Kelly held on and moved to stay on his feet, eventually earning him a majority decision victory.

How a judge ruled this fight a draw will be a headache for some. Aside from the last round, Davis did very little. Although Kelly didn't throw much either, it was still more than what Davis did.

Interview after the fight

Josh Kelly

“I got caught” said Kelly about the last round. “The blood was a blur in front of my eyes. I couldn't see anything… when it came down. I couldn't see anything anymore. It wasn't necessarily a hard punch. It was a clean punch, don't get me wrong… He's a strong, decent kid, but going into the last round, I thought I couldn't lose the fight.”