Josh Kelly presented a battle against #4 Jaron Ennis in a WBO junior middleweight title eliminator to determine the compulsory challenger to the newly crowned 154-pound champion Xander Zayas.
Seconds The news of the 3 Rank of the WBO contender for Kelly (17-1-1, 9 COs) is broken, which is offered the fight against ‘Boots’ Ennis.
Josh Kelly Options
It is doubtful whether Kelly, 31, will agree to take the risky fight, as he is already in a good position to be selected for a world title shot against WBO champion Zayas. The offer of Ennis’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, from Matchroom, should be considerable to attract Kelly to his no. 3 -ranking. If the Olympic Kelly is offered life -changing money in 2016, he will probably take it.
Although Zayas discussed that he would like a unification fight against the WBC 154-Pond Champion Sebastian Fundora or IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev after winning the vacant WBO title last Saturday night, it is believed that he will take it on his belt.
Josh Kelly would be a clear choice for Xander to choose for his first defense. Zayas’ promoters at Top Rank led him so far in his six -year professional career by sending him away from dangerous opposition and fiting him against only beaten fighters. It is difficult to suggest that they change their formula of matchmaking now that Xander has won the WBO 154-Pond title with his 12-round victory over Jorge Garcia last Saturday.
Big money for Kelly
Ennis (34-0, 30 CO’s) moves from 147 to 154. He is not in a strong position to get a name opponent for his debut in the October or November section. Hearn wants to get him in a position as quickly as possible to fight for a world title. To do this, Eddie will have to dig deep and come up with the money to attract Kelly. He cannot be trapped with his offers.
Some fans believe that it was the reason that Boots could not get the unification fight at 147 to become the undisputed champion. Hearn was Scrooge-like with his offers to the other belt containers, which caused them to arrive their noses and ignore him.
Last updated on 07/28/2025
