battling with chronic hypochondria<\/a> – the condition more formally called illness anxiety disorder – Kelly is now working with a reinforced mindset.<\/p>\nHe came out confidently, knowing his coaching team, family and friends all believed he had the ability to prevail.<\/p>\n
‘Pretty Boy’ danced around the ring and taunted the previously undefeated Murtazaliev before scoring a knockdown in the fourth round.<\/p>\n
Murtazaliev rallied and responded with a knockdown of his own in the ninth but this was also something Kelly had experienced a premonition about.<\/p>\n
“I was praying the other day and had a vision of me being knocked down in a round,” Kelly said.<\/p>\n
“I got back up and had these different feelings. One of them was that I got sloppy and lost the fight but the other was me getting back to what I do best and seeing through the round.”<\/p>\n
Kelly has come a long way from his mental struggles, which dovetailed with difficulties in making the weight when he fought at welterweight.<\/p>\n
“I told everyone what I was dealing with at 147lbs (10st 7lb, 6.7kg), especially when it was Covid and I had health anxieties,” Kelly said.<\/p>\n
“I was telling my dad I was getting sick when I was in the hotels and always wearing a mask.”<\/p>\n
Kelly was tipped as a star of the future when he made his way through the amateur ranks and earned the chance to represent Great Britain at the 2016 Olympics.<\/p>\n
In his first 10 fights as a professional, Kelly – who signed with promoter Matchroom – fought on cards at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, London’s O2 Arena and Madison Square Garden in New York.<\/p>\n
He was being pushed hard and delivering with winning performances.<\/p>\n
But Kelly’s dreams came crashing down after his loss against Avanesyan and he took a 16-month break before returning as a light-middleweight.<\/p>\n
“I put Avanesyan to bed a long time ago,” Kelly said. “I just had to believe in myself.”<\/p>\n
Now Kelly has the world at his feet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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