Josh Kelly turned on the style, not for the first time, in London where he made the second defence of his WBA International welterweight title.
The Sunderland star produced a brilliant display at the O2, where he hammered Poland’s Przemyslaw Runowski to a unanimous points defeat in a battle of the unbeaten 147lb men.
Kelly went the distance for only the third time in nine fight but did not lose a round in this England v Poland confrontation.
The French and Polish judges, Bertrand Chagnoux and Grzegorz Molenda, both scored it 100-88 with Scotland’s Victor Loughlin marking it a wee bit closer, albeit 100-89.
Having not fought since November, this was a welcome return for one of Britain’s brightest talents.
The 25-year-old made up for lost time by delivering punches from all angles in a strong opener and it got even better when he put down his rival in the second after a dozen stinging shots on the spin.
Runowski, to his credit, not only survived that visit to the canvas he showed his determination by hanging about and getting through with a few punches of his own, inflicting a bit of damage under Kelly’s right eye.
However, Kelly was always in control and accurate with his shots.
He put in a strong finale, hurting the 25-year-old Pole with a thumping body shot at the end of the eighth and when he repeated the trick in the ninth, it forced Runowski to touch down.
After Runowski took a count, Kelly went for the finish but in his zest was warned by referee, Michael Alexander, for a low blow.
Kelly was just as enthusiastic in the last and a superbly-executed left hand to the head felled the challenger.
Again, Runowski survived and toughed it out to see out the 10 rounds, but a landslide points verdict was inevitable.
It was Kelly’s ninth victory from nine and achieved, it transpired, despite hurting his hand midway through.
“It was a shot I threw, I’m not sure which shot it was,” Kelly told Sky Sports. “It was really shooting through my hand.
“I was happy, but there’s always things to improve on. I got caught with some shots.”
Elsewhere, Dave Allen said he will be the most famous man in Doncaster after knocking out Lucas Browne in the third round with a body shot in the headline contest.
In the other heavyweight battle, Derek Chisora convincingly outpointed Senad Gashi.
Joe Cordina stopped Andy Townend in round six to clinch the British lightweight title which was once the property of Lewis Ritson, while Conor Benn returned with an eight round points victory over Josef Zahradnik.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Mark Robinson/ Matchroom
