Troy Williams will defend his British junior middleweight title against Josh Kelly in a December fight in Newcastle, Probellum announced on Saturday.
Williamson (19-0-1, 14 KOs) took the belt from Ted Cheeseman in October 2021, stopping Cheeseman by brutal 10th-round knockout of a fight in Liverpool, and clearly claiming himself as the best domestic fighter at 154 pounds. . .
He has since defended the title once, beating Mason Cartwright by decision on March 25 in Newcastle, and just fought Saturday in a 168-pound bout in Bolton, earning a sixth-round TKO over a club fighter named David Benitez.
That fight sees Williamson, 31, not arrive with nine months or more of inactivity before facing Kelly (12-1-1, 7 KOs), a former Olympian who has fought her way as a pro. The 28-year-old Kelly had high hopes of breaking into the pro ranks in 2017 and tried to make his mark at welterweight, but a draw with Ray Robinson in 2019 and a stoppage loss to David Avanesyan in 2021 dashed some hopes.
After parting ways with Matchroom and taking 16 months off, Kelly returned to the ring on June 17 and July 30, scoring wins over Peter Kramer and Lucas Bastida, a fourth-round knockout and a 10-round unanimous decision, respectively. .
The victory over Bastida gave Kelly a minor trinket from the WBO, but much has been made of the fight with Williamson, and now it will happen.
An exact date was not indicated in the press release.
“I am so happy that Josh has agreed to fight me because this is a monster fight for British boxing and it will be shown live to a huge television audience,” Williamson said.
“But Josh, mark my words, you have made a huge mistake because you have never faced anyone like me, and I will crush you and stop you. Your Olympic pedigree will be of no use when the going gets tough and it drags you into deep water.”
