In reality it feels closer to a sentence.
Matchroom Boxing reinforced that sentiment this week by sharing footage of Murtazaliev in training ahead of the January 31st fight. The power seemed intact. The balance seemed heavy. There was no sign of rust after fourteen and a half months away from the ring. He looked like a warrior who had waited a long time for someone to finally agree to stand before him.
That wait was no accident. Since stopping Tszyu in October 2024, Murtazaliev has struggled to find meaningful opposition, with big names at 154 pounds choosing not to engage. The belt didn’t make him safer. This made him easier to avoid, and Kelly was the one willing to sign when others didn’t. At 31, world-class opportunities don’t come in abundance, and Kelly understood what it would likely mean to turn this one down.
For Kelly, the terrain shifts immediately. He enters the fight at 31 on a seven-fight winning streak, but the rebuild since his 2021 loss to David Avanesyan has come up against domestic and European level opposition. He boxed with more discipline and control during that run, but he hasn’t faced sustained pressure or real world-level stopping power since the Avanesyan fight.
Murtazaliev offers both, and he doesn’t hide it. He carries power in each hand, a point he drove home against Tszyu when an injured right forced him to rely on his left. The result was repeated takedowns and a fight that ended before Tszyu could adjust. That performance did not raise Murtazaliev’s profile. This turned him into a problem.
Kelly will have home advantage at Newcastle Arena. The crowd will be loud. The support will be real. None of this changes how Murtazaliev fights. He is not involved in the room. He distances himself and waits for damage to appear.
This is the level Kelly said he wants, and this is the level where one mistake can change a career in a single round.
If Murtazaliev knocks Kelly out at any point, especially early, it will immediately change his career. Such a loss does not send a fighter back to rebuild mode. This drops him to a level where opportunities are shrinking, and recovery is slow. Kelly knows this from experience. His sixth round stoppage loss to Avanesyan in 2021 took years to escape. This time, the damage can arrive faster and be harder to reverse.
It’s a brave choice. It’s also the kind of fighters that make when there’s nowhere left to hide.
