Murtazaliev arrived in Britain billed as as one of the most menacing, avoided fighters in world boxing but throughout fight week, Kelly carried himself like a man who believed his time had arrived.

Kelly’s raw talent has never been in question.

Yet, the memory of his sixth-round stoppage defeat by then European welterweight champion David Avanesyan in February 2021 left many wondering whether he would have the stamina and bloodymindedness to hold off Murtazaliev, if things got desperate.

As expected, Kelly started quickly and knocked Murtazaliev down in the fourth round. The 31-year-old from Sunderland then showed the character and wherewithal to hold himself together after getting dropped himself in the ninth and finished strongly to secure an outstanding victory.

"I told you and I told him," Kelly (18-1-1, 9 KOs) said at the post-fight press conference.

"We were messaging each other a little bit and he said, 'You'll be hiding.' I said, "Listen, I'll land first and you'll end up on your back."

"Every interview is like 'Avanesyan, Avanesyan.' I'm thinking, "When he’s going to leave me?' But, hopefully, it's done. I showed that I'm not wavering. I'm healthy, happy, when I'm on song, I can box for 12 rounds to a plan and showed I can get caught, get back up and finish the fight off. I don't think many people thought I had it in me."

Kelly barely had time to pose for photographs with his new belt before talk turned to who he will defend it against.

Kelly's promoter Eddie Hearn recently mentioned that there is an already an agreement in place for him to fight former unified welterweight champion and The Ring's fifth-ranked junior middleweight, Jaron 'Boots' Ennis.

Kelly's trainer Adam Booth expanded on that agreement.

"It's possible," Booth said.

"We signed a multi-fight deal with Matchroom and one of the options is Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs). It’s not the only option. There's other names in the contract. We'll see. Frank Smith and Eddie will talk, we'll talk and make a plan."

Hours after Kelly unseated Murtazaliev, Xander Zayas (23-0, 13 KOs) outpointed Abass Baraou in Puerto Rico, adding the German’s WBA belt to his own WBO strap.

A three-title unification with Zayas could be an attractive proposition whilst it would be extremely easy to revive his old rivalry with Conor Benn (24-1, 14 KOs). With the latter's long feud with Chris Eubank Jr now over, the 29-year-old seems intent on challenging for a welterweight title, though hasn't made 147 pounds since 2022.

Kelly’s win in the division directly above may at least provide him with pause for thought.

On April 4, Brandon Adams (26-4, 16 KOs) and Caoimhin Agyarko (18-0, 7 KOs) will meet in Ontario, California to decide who becomes the mandatory challenger for Kelly's new prize.

Kelly has options aplenty and one could be an appearance at Sunderland's football stadium, the Stadium of Light.

"There's plenty of names that can fill that stadium. We’ve got domestic fighters, overseas fighters. We’ve got loads of people who can fill in that spot and make this a crazy night at the Stadium of Light," he said.

"This is history made so if I hung up the gloves now, I'd be happy. But now it’s time to go and get the big fights that really get the people chatting. That get your next door neighbor talking, get her talking, him talking. Really put them fights together."