Josh Kelly focused on ‘putting his demons to bed’ ahead of return to North East stage

Josh ‘Pretty Boy’ Kelly is looking forward to his return to the North East as he gets set to do battle with Argentinian fighter Lucas Bastida. The Sunderland born fighter will headline Wasserman Boxing’s event at the Vertu Motors Arena in Newcastle this evening.

The fight, which will be shown live on Channel 5, is just the 14th fight of PBK’s professional career, after bursting onto the scene with a number of impressive amateur performances and a slick start to life in the pro game. Kelly suffered the first loss of his pro-career at the hands of David Avanesyan back in 2021, a result that saw the fighter take 16 months away from boxing ring.

Kelly took time to find himself spiritually and put demons to bed that he’d been battling away from the ring and made his comeback last month with an impressive win over resolute Hungarian Peter Kramer. PBK secured a fourth round stoppage amid a tirade of fierce uppercuts that left the referee with no other option but to stop the fight.

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“It was good, I hit the floor running,” Kelly exclusively told Chronicle Live. “Kramer was supposed to be tough and take me rounds but obviously I hit the floor running and found my footing quite easily and got myself a nice win back. It was a good platform to start building from.”

The loss to Avanesyan has not deterred the Sunderland fighter in his quest for world titles, who is still confident in his ability. However, his time away from the ring has seen him go to ‘another level’ according to Kelly.

He said: “I was working a lot to be honest, and people might think it’s a bit woo-woo, on the spiritual side of myself and finding myself more than anything else because I believe in my talent in the ring. That’s natural and I’ve built a style round it but there’s always things you can improve on and we have improved massively this year.

“Massively in the gym and the things I’m doing now, the focus I’ve got is another level. I went away to find myself and put all the demons to rest that I was burying down for years.

“That took me about 12 months to sort it out. After that, coming back and finding myself, being in a better place outside the ring and in the ring, has just given me a massive boost moving forward. I can just focus on boxing and totally enjoy it.

“Before, I was battling those demons left, right and centre and it all came to a head in that fight and the fight previously. That was not me in that ring, but it is what it is and we’ve got to keep moving.”

Paddy ‘the Baddy’ Pimblett’s speech after winning at UFC London recently shone the light on mental health in sport and Kelly believes it’s time fighters dropped the ‘tough guy’ look if they need help. He said: “It’s deep, he was saying men should speak more because men don’t but women do. It’s massive, especially in a sport like boxing or fighting, you need to be this Mr Tough Guy. I think most athletes have these mental problems that you keep to yourself and obviously if you bottle them up long enough they come back to bite you.

“Mine truly did. I was in a bad, bad way in 2020, 2021. The last fight [Avanesyan] was the worst fight I ever had. On the Wednesday night I remember going to the mini-bar in my hotel room and doing two little mini bottles of whisky to put myself to sleep and get a rest from this thing.

“I’m fighting on Saturday, thinking ‘What am I doing here?’ My mind was in such a bad place and I was a borderline hypochondriac thinking I was getting ill 24/7. It wasn’t about the fight, it was thinking I need to be right to do what I need to do.

“Going on to speak about things, what Paddy was speaking about, touches base. It didn’t seem to help but I was in some deep places, some deep moments myself that were too deep to talk about. Speaking out is definitely the right thing to do especially in the fighting sport, people think you need to be this man but you are the man stepping in this ring.”

“It’s not for everyone to start coming out saying I’ve got this and that to jump on a trend and get people to feel for them,” Kelly said. “If I wasn’t going what I went through, then I don’t think I would have ever thought about it at all. When I was a kid growing up, 20, 21 and 22, I could see these things starting to bottle up and eventually it came to a head.

“It was such a big time in my life, having two young kids. I could potentially affect them so I need to speak about it and now I feel good.”

Josh Kelly arrives during the Super Welterweight fight between Josh Kelly and Peter Kramer as part of the Wasserman fight night at M&S Bank Arena on June 17, 2022 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)

The win over Kramer saw Kelly step up to Super Welterweight for the first time in his career, but his speed in the opening rounds left the Hungarian shaken before getting the stoppage in the fourth. Despite the step up, Pretty Boy isn’t ruling out a return to Welterweight, if the fight suits him.

“I believe I can make Welterweight a couple of times if there’s big fights down there, but if I want to be busy, active, healthy and strong, then 154 is my weight,” he said. “It’s a push to make Welterweight and it’d take me at least three months to get to that weight from where I am now.

“I’m pretty lean now so making the weight is one thing, but fighting a guy for 12 rounds that wants to tear your head off is another thing. You need to be strong fit and ready, you can’t be drained at the weight and then trying to fight 12 rounds the next day.

“I’ve found out myself it’s hard work. The fight is up against the scales and it shouldn’t be the case, that should be the thing you don’t even have to think about. I’m not going to be looking to go to Welterweight any time soon, 100 per cent.”

Kelly will return to the stage in the North East, with his last bout in the region way back in 2016 – a win over Kris George in round 7. “It’s in Newcastle, it’s a weird one because you’re back at home, but you’re not at home,” Kelly said. “I get on with a load of Geordies putting football aside, I’ve got nothing against anyone from that city, I actually think Newcastle is a great city but I’ll be bringing a lot of red and white through and that natural rivalry we’ve got will never die.

“It’s massive in the area, I don’t think people outside the area realise how big it is with hardcore football fans. A lot of my friends are and I know a lot of people in Newcastle are.

“You’ve got to choose a side and if you’re Sunderland, you’re Sunderland, if you’re Newcastle, you’re Newcastle. I’ll be coming wearing red and white so we’ll see what response I get.”

Josh Kelly during his public workout in Newcastle with trainer Adam Booth (Image: Wasserman Boxing)

Kelly will be going toe to toe with Bastida – who has just one defeat on his professional record with 18 wins, seven by way of knockout and one draw. It’ll be another tough test for the 28-year-old but one that he’s relishing.

“It’s going to be a good fight, a very good fight,” Kelly said. “I feel like I’ll be too much for him. I feel like he’s going to find his level sharpish. My speed will be a massive, massive advantage moving up to this weight.

“I’m fast as a Welterweight and then moving up to Super-Welterweight the kids get a bit slower and I still hold that speed. I think he’s in for a tough night’s work.

“He says he’s going to bring a pressure fight and this and that. I hope he does because all the prep I’ve been doing is for people who want to come and walk forward on me. I think that’s what people are going to do, to try and beat me because of what they saw in that last fight (the bout with Avanesyan back in 2021), but that wasn’t me in that last fight.

“They’ll have a rude awakening when they come to try and put it on me. They’ll end up on the worst end of things. If he wants to bring the pressure it will fall into what I’ve been doing since a kid anyway.

“Everyone has been trying to come onto me since I was young so I just think he’ll end up getting hurt. I will try and put a performance on and get that stoppage, I’m looking for that.”

Kelly has just returned from a two week camp in Marbella and with just six weeks between the bout with Kramer and Bastida, the Sunderland boxer is keen to keep the ball rolling.

“I’m keeping myself busy because inactivity can kill you. I’ve had a lot of that in the last couple of years, obviously with Covid everyone had inactivity, different things happening. The Avanesyan fight – dropping out twice – Covid, it was just hard work to keep myself going.

“Then time off in between to get myself sorted, now it’s time to keep fighting and do what I’m made to do which is fight. It’s time to step on the gas now.

“We went to Marbella for two weeks and it was class. Trained hard and really pushed so we’re just cruising into fight week now and I can’t wait. Get everything nailed down and we’re there to get the win.

“I’d like a challenging fight. I’m a bit of a weirdo I like to get little tests where I can grow from them. I look back and say ‘yeah I went through that little test there.’ If the punch lands and the fight ends, no one gets paid for overtime.”

Tickets for Wasserman Boxing’s North East takeover are on sale now, priced £40, £80, £100 and £200, and available via www.wassermanboxing.com

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