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 the 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 TKO 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 belt he won from favored Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-1, 17 KOs) on January 31. The Ring’s No. 6 junior middleweight edged Russia’s Murtazaliev, who is rated seventh, by majority decision to win the 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 as he bled badly from a long, deep cut across his nose. Kelly caught Agyarko with a right uppercut. His 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.

Kelly caught Agyarko with a right hand that backed him into the ropes with just under 40 seconds on the clock in the ninth.

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

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

A left hook by Agyarko connected just after the midway mark of the fifth, 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 round.

Agyarko and Kelly exchanged hard jabs in a closely contested fourth.

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

Kelly’s confidence was evident in the second, when he came forward, oftentimes with his hands down, and outlanded the 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