Worth the wait? Of course. The silky smooth skills of Josh Kelly are always worth watching.
And, after an absence of 481 days the time is here as the Sunderland light-middleweight returns in Liverpool on Friday night, when Wasserman stage their second show on Channel 5.
Peter Kramer will be the opponent for ‘Pretty Boy’ over 10 rounds at the M&S Bank Arena.
There was, of course, a false start last month, when Kelly’s C5 debut was called off at the last minute after a no-show from opponent Xhuljo Vrenozi at the 02 in London.
Given Kramer is a fella who fights with “heart”, there is no concern about the Hungarian turning up – the KK clash is on.
“I can’t wait to be live on Channel 5 and competing in the city of Liverpool,” Kelly told the media conference in Liverpool’s Hilton.
“The arena is somewhere where I’ve boxed before, I know how good the Liverpool crowd are, so I can’t wait to put a performance on and show off my skills.
“After the disappointing issue with my opponent in London, I just locked in to this one and told myself ‘there are five weeks until the Liverpool card so just keep working hard in the gym, keep sparring, and keep everything ready’.
“That’s exactly what I’ve done.
“I believe in myself and I believe I am one of the best, so I just need to prove it on the night and I’m sure I will.”
Kramer will be a difficult first opponent back for the Adam Booth-trained boxer.
The 32-year-old, from Budapest, is a tough fella and a seasoned campaigner at middleweight, so he’ll take some shifting.
Recently a points winner in his home city, previously he was in Newcastle to go the six rounds with Mark Dickinson in April and before that had done the same with Jack Flatley in Bolton.
He has only been stopped on two occasions in a 12-5-3 career, including a fourth-round defeat in Birmingham to Sam Eggington for an IBO light-middleweight belt.
For Kelly, 10 good-paced rounds would prove a successful return in his first outing since suffering his first career defeat, to David Avanesyan, in February 2021, a result which leaves his fight log at 10-1-1.
“Peter is a good, experienced operator,” said the 28-year-old. “I believe I’m going to be too fit, too strong, too prepared and too fast for him.
“I’m going to put him in deep water before he even realises.”
Kramer is unfazed and is vowing to do “everything I can in the ring to win”.
He said: “Like any fighter, I’ll be relying on my heart first and foremost.
“I’ve been preparing hard for this, and I’m fit and ready to perform.
“If I combine my heart, my preparation and my conditioning – I give myself a good chance of taking a big win back to Hungary.”
We will find out at 9pm on Channel 5 on Friday when there will also be a pro debut for Newcastle’s reality TV star Aaron Chalmers and an IBF International heavyweight championship clash between Nathan Gorman and the Czech Republic’s Tomas Salek.
Sadly, an injury to Liverpool’s Marcel Braithwaite has put paid to a fascinating British title eliminator with former Sunderland star Thomas Essomba.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Wasserman
