Josh Kelly’s severe facial cuts will not keep him out of the ring for long, according to trainer Adam Booth. Booth expects the British welterweight to heal within eight weeks, putting him on course to return before the end of the year.
Kelly suffered the damage in his unanimous decision victory over Caoimhin Agyarko, with repeated head clashes causing several deep cuts. The injuries looked serious immediately after the bout, but Booth credited surgeon Neil Scott for accelerating the recovery.
“Fortunately, because of the surgeon Neil Scott, no, he did a fantastic job. He used little stitches and a few of them to speed up the repair and the healing process, and Josh is going to be healed in eight weeks, which means that certainly by the end of the year he’ll be okay,” said Booth to talkSPORT Boxing.
The recovery timeline allows Booth to focus on Kelly’s next objective. Rather than another title defense, he wants a unification fight. Booth ruled out WBC champion Sebastian Fundora because of his mandatory obligation, leaving unified IBF and WBA champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis as the preferred opponent.
“Josh wants to unify, whether that’s Boots or whether that’s Fundora. Now I don’t think it can be Fundora this year because I think he’s doing his WBC mandatory,” said Booth. “Boots doesn’t have a fight scheduled. He’s with Matchroom. He said he wants to fight Josh. Yes. Yeah, I absolutely do. I want Josh to have the chance to prove just how good he is. There is no one in the division that’s a better challenge to do that than Boots Ennis, who is the most accomplished and proven champion in the division.”
Booth revealed Kelly’s team had previously agreed to face Ennis before the fight fell through. With Kelly expected to recover before year’s end, Booth hopes the matchup can finally be made.
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Last Updated on 2026/07/30 at 4:14 PM
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