Jimmy Kilrain Kelly hands Kanat Islam first loss on Friday night

Jimmy Kilrain Kelly of England defeated middleweight contender Kanat Islam, late Friday night time, at White Sands Occasion Heart in Plant Metropolis, Florida.

One decide scored the bout 95-95, whereas the opposite two scored the bout 96-94 and 97-93 for Kelly, who improves to 26-2, 10 knockouts.

Islam was the favourite coming into the combat and had confronted the higher opposition between the 2 however Kelly was the simpler fighter all through. Islam had not fought in over a yr, since a stoppage win over Jeyson Minda, and it confirmed, as his timing appeared off and he was flat-footed combating within the middle of the ring.

At occasions, Islam would swap from typical to southpaw and again however Kelly caught to his game-plan of working behind a jab and mixing his assault. Kelly would land one-two combos to the top and physique or would maintain Islam off-balance by touchdown a jab or lead proper and shifting out of the pocket.

Sensing he was down on the scorecards late within the combat, Islam turned the aggressor, throwing two or three-punch combos, however he by no means had Kelly in hassle. Kelly would correctly tie Islam up as the 2 fought on the within.

Friday night time marked an enormous win for Kelly, who knocked out journeyman Harry Matthews in Spherical 3 of his earlier bout on December 12. The win over Matthews came about over two-and-a-half years after his earlier combat in Could 2019.

Islam, who’s of Kazakh descent and resides in Oxnard, California, drops to 28-1, 22 KOs.

One other important upset came about on the Probox Promotions card.

Jonathan Eniz of Argentina dropped welterweight prospect Mark Reyes Jr. as soon as en path to a unanimous resolution victory.

Scores have been 95-94 twice and 96-93 for Eniz, who improves to 28-17-1, 11 KOs.

Eniz took the combat on Tuesday after authentic opponent Kendo Castaneda needed to withdraw from the combat for undisclosed causes. Eniz additionally fought earlier this month on February 3, shedding by unanimous resolution to unbeaten Yauheni Dauhaliavets.

The southpaw Eniz stood within the pocket with Reyes, who both smothered himself or was not shut sufficient to Eniz to attach with combos.

Halfway by means of Spherical 2, Eniz dropped Reyes flat on his again with a right-left mixture to the top. Reyes beat the rely however was on wobbly legs as Eniz tried to finish issues. Happily for Reyes, he weathered the storm and fought again, preserving Eniz at bay.

Each fighters had their moments all through the remainder of the combat. Reyes would try to hook up with the physique however Eniz utilized extra ring generalship to constantly throw and land punches upstairs.

Reyes, who resides in close by Tampa, drops to 14-2, 12 KOs. He had misplaced his earlier combat to unbeaten Janelson Figueroa Bocachica on February 17 of final yr.

Within the co-feature, welterweight Peter Dobson, of the Bronx, New York, defeated Mexico’s Jose Borrego by unanimous resolution.

Scores have been 100-90, 98-92 and 97-93 for Dobson, who improves to 15-0, 9 KOs.

Borrego (19-4, 16 KOs) has now misplaced two of his final three bouts.

In preliminary motion, beginner standout and cruiserweight Najee Lopez, of Ellenwood, Georgia, improved to 3-0, 3 KOs, by stopping Alex Theran (23-7, 15 KOs) at 33 seconds of Spherical 2. The 22-year-old Lopez dropped Theran as soon as within the opening spherical and seconds into the next spherical earlier than the combat was stopped.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has lined boxing in Southern California and overseas since 2000. Francisco additionally covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He will be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or on Twitter @FSalazarBoxing.