JOSH Kelly, along with his manager and trainer, Adam Booth, claims that he never received an offer to face IBF world super-welterweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev.
Both parties appeared to be in talks for a potential fight, before a series of stumbling blocks ultimately led to a firm breakdown of communication.
The initial plan, it seemed, was to stage their showdown in the UK, which would have presented Kelly, 17-1-1 (9 KOs), the challenger, with an all-important home advantage.
But once it became clear that such an outcome – within the desired time frame – would not be possible, Murtazaliev’s promoter, Kathy Duva, swiftly turned her attention towards a different option.
Instead, the unbeaten champion is now expected to face his mandatory challenger, Erickson Lubin, later this year, while Kelly, on the other hand, has been left without an obvious opponent.
The 31-year-old comes off a blistering first-round finish over Flavius Biea, which followed a far more meaningful points victory against Ishmael Davis.
As a result, Kelly now finds himself occupying a leading position with the WBO, while the IBF, too, have him placed at number-three in their 154lb rankings.
Yet despite his status with two of the four major sanctioning bodies, ‘Pretty Boy’ nonetheless appears to be a fair distance from securing his first world title shot.
As for Murtazaliev, 23-0 (17 KOs), Kelly insists that, while their fight may be dead in the water, the situation that unfolded prior to its collapse is far different to what some have been led to believe.
“I saw a quote from Murtazaliev, saying to not mention his name if I’m not going to take the fight, but I’ve never had an offer,” Kelly told Boxing News.
“It’s beyond ridiculous, but people still believe this s*** when it comes out. What I heard is that he wanted to [explore the UK market] and wanted £1.5m for the fight.
“No English broadcaster was ever going to pay him that, so he priced himself out and then the fight was off.
“He’s a good name, but not a commercial name. It’s not like he’s Ryan Garcia, or someone like that.
“It’s a 50/50 fight, don’t get me wrong, but I’d back myself [against Murtazaliev], 100 percent. I just want those world title shots now.”
Murtazaliev claimed his IBF strap last year, securing an 11th-round finish over Jack Culcay, before defending it with a far more punishing three-round beatdown against Tim Tszyu.
But regardless of his fearsome reputation, Booth had hoped that the ruthless knockout artist would make a voluntary defence of his title against Kelly.
“I immediately reached out to Kathy Duva after Josh beat Flavius Biea, saying that we’d love to do that fight,” the head coach said. “She said that they, too, would love to do that fight.
“I was then asked to look at the UK market but, because of the IBF title, there’s a certain time frame that a voluntary defence has to take place [due to Lubin being the mandatory challenger].
“So I had a few conversations but, in terms of any broadcast or promotional dates, there were no openings in the UK market.
“I was then told that there was serious interest in putting it on the [Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford] undercard [on September 13], but we were never made an offer.
“Josh Kelly isn’t scared of Murtazaliev – he’d take that fight now – but no one’s made us an offer.”
