Adam Booth raves about Josh Kelly

By Scott Gilfoid: Trainer Adam Booth say he sees welterweight prospect Josh Kelly (5-0, 4 KOs) as the best fighter he’s ever trained before. This is a high compliment from Booth, because he’s trained a lot of guys like David Haye, who has captured world titles in 2 divisions.

Kelly, 23, a 2016 Olympian from the UK, might not ever win a world title. He’s not the biggest puncher and he’s fighting in a stacked division at 147. If Kelly is the best fighter that Booth has ever trained, then you must assume that he’s talking about the best gym fighter, but not necessarily the best professional fighter.

Having seen Kelly’s recent 6th round knockout win over Jean Michel Hamilcarao (25-9-3, 6 KOs) earlier this month on December 13, I have extreme doubts whether he’s ever going to be a good fighter at the pro level. Kelly spent the entire fight with his hands down by his sides, throwing weak punches at rapid succession and not doing much else.

Kelly’s opponent, 31-year-old Hamilcaro, was basically a punching bag, not throwing anything back and just taking shots. If this had been someone like Shawn Porter or Terence Crawford, they would have been all over Kelly, nailing him with head shots one after another. Kelly’s low guard would make him a sitting duck for anything Crawford and Porter would throw at him.

“I only talk in terms of world champions,” said Booth to the sunderlandecho.com. “Josh has such a unique skill-set; he’s the most talented fighter I’ve ever worked with. He is the most complete fighter at this stage of his career, I see him becoming world champion. Not just a world champion but a world champion who really catches the public’s imagination.”

Kelly didn’t do well in the 2016 Olympics, losing to Daniyar Yeleussinov of Kazakhstan, who took advantage of his low guard to nail him with shots all night long in winning an easy decision. It was thought that Kelly would fix his bad habit of fighting with his hands down by his sides when he turned pro, but unfortunately that hasn’t happened. Kelly is still fighting in that manner.

I suppose that once Kelly gets knocked out for the first time, he’ll finally think about getting his hands up around his head to keep from getting hit with head shots. I expect Booth to be shown the door once Kelly loses for the first time. I strongly suspect that Booth will be sacrificed after Kelly loses, because he didn’t stop him from fighting with his hands low.

“I’m ready whenever Adam Booth and Eddie Hearn think I’m ready to step up,” said Kelly to skysports.com.

Well, it would be nice if Hearn and Booth started stepping Kelly up already. At least if he faces a live body and gets whipped, he’ll start thinking about changing his fighting style. I’m just saying.