In point of fact, it feels closer to a sentence.
Matchroom Boxing reinforced that sense this week by sharing footage of Murtazaliev in training ahead of the January 31 fight. The ability looked intact. The balance looked heavy. There was no sign of rust after fourteen and a half months away from the ring. He looked like a fighter who has spent an extended time waiting for somebody to finally conform to stand in front of him.
That wait was not accidental. Since stopping Tszyu in October 2024, Murtazaliev has struggled to secure meaningful opposition, with big names at 154 kilos selecting not to interact. The belt didn’t make him safer. It made him easier to avoid, and Kelly was the one willing to sign when others didn’t. At 31, opportunities on the world level don’t are available bulk, and Kelly understood what turning this one down would likely mean.
For Kelly, the terrain shifts immediately. He enters the fight at 31 on a seven fight winning run, however the rebuild since his 2021 loss to David Avanesyan got here against domestic and European level opposition. He boxed with more discipline and control during that run, but he has not handled sustained pressure or real stopping power on the world level for the reason that Avanesyan fight.
Murtazaliev offers each, and he doesn’t disguise it. He carries power in each hand, some extent he drove home against Tszyu when an injured right forced him to depend on his left. The result was repeated knockdowns and a fight that ended before Tszyu could adjust. That performance didn’t elevate Murtazaliev’s profile. It turned him right into a problem.
Kelly can have home advantage at Newcastle Arena. The group will probably be loud. The support will probably be real. None of that changes how Murtazaliev fights. He doesn’t engage with the room. He closes distance and waits for damage to seem.
That is the extent Kelly has said he wants, and it’s the extent where one mistake can change a profession in a single round.
If Murtazaliev knocks Kelly out at any point, especially early, it might change his profession immediately. A loss like that doesn’t send a fighter back to rebuilding mode. It drops him onto a level where opportunities shrink, and recovery is slow. Kelly knows that from experience. His sixth round stoppage loss to Avanesyan in 2021 took years to flee. This time, the damage could arrive faster and be harder to reverse.
It’s a brave alternative. It is usually the sort of fighters make when there’s nowhere left to cover.