Bakhram Murtazaliev vs Josh Kelly Preview Jan. 31st, 2026
Unbeaten IBF Junior Middleweight Champion Bakhram Murtazaliev of Russia returns to the ring this Saturday, January 31st to defend his belt against Josh Kelly of Sunderland, England. The 12-rounder from the Newcastle Arena in England can be seen live on DAZN. The champion hasn’t fought since October, 2024 when he destroyed Tim Tzsyu by decking him three times in the second round and once in the third before the fight was stopped at the 1:55 mark of the third stanza. Murtazaliev won the vacant belt six months earlier when he halted Jack Culcay in the 11th round. Kelly was last in action in June when he stopped Flavius Biea after just 123 seconds.
Murtazaliev vs Kelly Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Josh Kelly +243
- Bakhram Murtazaliev -333
My Pick
Bakhram Murtazaliev is 33 years old and fights out of Oxnard, California. He boasts a perfect record of 23-0 with 17 wins coming by KO. He’s got 104 rounds of pro experience under his belt since making his debut in 2014 following his amateur career. He stands a shade under 6-feet-tall with a 74-inch wingspan and possesses quite a bit of power in his punches as his current knockout ratio stands at 73.9 per cent. However, he’s gone the distance in three of his last seven fights.
Since turning pro, Murtazaliev has also captured the IBA Americas, vacant WBC USA and vacant Eurasian Boxing Parliament Junior Middleweight Belts. It could be argued that Tazyu was the first legitimate top-10 contender he’s faced and he certainly passed that test with a quick demolition job of the Australian star. Until beating Tszyu, his biggest victories were over Culcay, Khiary Gray, Manny Woods, Jorge Fortea, Bruno Leonardo Romay, Elvin Ayala, Norberto Gonzalez and Fernando Carcamo.
Meanwhile, the 31-year-old Kelly carries around an impressive mark of 16-1-1 with 9 Ko’s and has boxed 127 rounds since making his pro debut in 2017. He measures 5-feet-10-inches tall with a 72-inch reach which sees him give up 1.5-inches in height and two inches in reach to Murtazaliev. He has slightly above-average power as 52.9 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage and has gone the distance in three of his past five fights. Kelly’s lone pro defeat was a sixth-round stoppage at the hands of David Avenesyan in February, 2021 in a shot at the European Welterweight Title while his draw was a 10-round majority affair with Ray Robinson in June, 2019.
Kelly won the vacant WBA International Welterweight Title in 2018 with a 10-round unanimous decision over Carlos Molina and defended it against Kris George, Przemyslaw Runowski and Robinson. He stopped George after seven rounds when George suffered a broken jaw and broken hands. That bout was also for the Commonwealth Welterweight Belt. Kelly has also beaten Ishmael Davis, Jose Luis Zuniga, Troy Williamson and Walter Castillo and has won the WBO International and British Super Welterweight Belts.
Kelly enjoyed a fine amateur career as he won a bronze medal at the 2012 AIBA Youth World Championships, won gold at the 2014 Heidelberg Round Robin Tournament, took bronze at the 2014 Golden Belt Tournament, the 2015 Bocskai Memorial Tournament and the 2015 European Games. He was also a quarter-finalist at the 2015 AIBA World Championships and participated at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where he went 1-1.
Prediction…
Murtazaliev has plenty of power and a solid chin while Kelly is a solid pro with decent power. This should be an interesting fight as the champion may have some ring rust to battle through and will be fighting in Kelly’s homeland. Murtazaliev’s punching power looked downright scary against Tszyu in his last outing and that doesn’t bode well for Kelly. I’m expecting the champion to leave England with the belt still around his waist mainly due to that power.
Murtazaliev’s power should do the trick.
Play: Murtazaliev -500 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form
Bakhram Murtazaliev betting • Josh Kelly betting