Kelly nevertheless overcame a spirited effort from Caoimhin Agyarko, three cuts on his bloodied face and a point deduction to retain his IBF junior middleweight title. He beat Agyarko by unanimous decision in their 154-pound championship clash on the Anthony Joshua-Kristian Prenga undercard at Jeddah Superdome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Judges Nermin Adrovic (114-113), Marco Morales (115-112) and Carl Zappia (115-112) all scored their closely contested fight for Kelly (18-1-1, 9 KOs), who was a 5-1 favorite according to DraftKings.

Kelly, a 2016 Olympian, extended his winning streak to nine since David Avanesyan upset him by sixth-round technical knockout in February 2021. He also kept himself in position to fight newly crowned WBA/WBO champ Jaron “Boots” Ennis next.

England’s Kelly, 32, made his first defense of the IBF belt he won from favored Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-1, 17 KOs) on January 31 at Utilita Arena in Newcastle, England. The Ring’s No. 6-ranked junior middleweight edged Russia’s Murtazaliev, who is rated seventh, by majority decision to win his IBF belt.

Northern Ireland’s Agyarko, 29, entered the ring ranked No. 4 among the IBF’s contenders for Kelly’s title.

With blood splattered across his face, Kelly fought off Agyarko throughout the 12th round. He begrudgingly hugged his challenger after the final bell rang.

Agyarko’s jab snapped back Kelly’s head with just under 15 seconds to go in the 11th round. Kelly bled badly during the 11th from a long, deep cut across his nose.

Kelly caught Agyarko with another right uppercut a little less than a minute into the 11th. Kelly’s mouthpiece came out several seconds later, which prompted Agyarko to complain about a break in the action.

A right uppercut by Kelly landed as they fought on the inside barely a minute into the 10th round.

Kelly caught Agyarko with a right hand that backed him into the ropes with just under 40 seconds on the clock in the ninth round. Agyarko’s right landed in an exchange a few seconds before the halfway point of the ninth.

Kelly’s left hook backed up Agyarko to punctuate an exchange with about a minute remaining in the eighth round. A flush left hook by Agyarko in the seventh round opened up a small cut underneath Kelly’s right eye, a couple rounds after Agyarko’s right hand caused a minor cut beneath Kelly’s left eye.

Kelly continued to fight at the pace and range that favored him for much of the sixth round, but referee Ignatius Missailidis deducted a point from him with 30 seconds remaining in it for hitting Agyarko on the back of his head. Agyarko caught Kelly with an overhand right almost as soon as the action continued following that brief break in the action.

A left hook by Agyarko connected just after the midway mark of the fifth round, when a small cut previously opened beneath Kelly’s left eye. A right uppercut by Kelly got Agyarko’s attention a little less than 40 seconds into the fifth.

Agyarko and Kelly both landed hard jabs in a closely contested fourth round.

Agyarko was more offensive minded in the third round, though Kelly still landed the more effective punches. His right hand moved Agyarko backward with just over 20 seconds to go in it.

Kelly’s confidence was evident in the second round, when he came forward, oftentimes with his hands down, and out-landed his careful challenger.

A stiff jab by Agyarko stopped Kelly from coming forward with just over 40 seconds to go in a tactical opening round during which neither fighter landed a consequential power punch.

Reito Tsutsumi (5-0, 4 KOs) def. Alvino Herrera (18-1-2, 11 KOs) KO 2 – junior lightweights

Nishant Dev (7-0, 5 KOs) def. Cesar Diaz (10-3, 5 KOs) KO 1 – junior middleweights

Jacob Bank (20-0, 11 KOs) def. Pawel August (18-1, 7 KOs) UD 8 – super middleweights

Oleksandr Khyzhniak (2-0, 1 KO) def. Lenny Patrach (8-1-1, 5 KOs) TKO 2 – light heavyweights

Ziyad Almaayouf (8-1-1, 1 KO) def. Frank Mango (8-2, 5 KOs) UD 8 – welterweight

Mikie Tallon (15-0, 4 KOs) def. Orlando Pino (17-4, 11 KOs) KO 1 – junior bantamweights

Mohammed Alakel (9-0, 3 KOs) def. Lydon Chircop (8-5, 4 KOs) KO 5 – lightweights

Sultan Almohammad (5-0, 4 KOs) def. Efren Besalduch (3-4-1, 1 KO) KO 3 – junior lightweights

Omar Hikal (2-0, 1 KO) def. Brian Castellano (2-2) UD 4 – super middleweights

Mohamed Mabrouk (2-0) def. Bryan Zapata (5-10-1, 4 KOs) UD 4 – junior welterweights