Bakhram Murtazaliev has officially launched an appeal for an immediate rematch after a controversial majority decision defeat to Josh Kelly.
Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-1, 17ko’s) has requested that the IBF order an immediate rematch after his majority decision defeat to Josh Kelly (18-1-1) on Saturday night in Newcastle.
The Russian was dropped by Josh Kelly in the first half of the fight putting Kelly into a lead on the scorecards from early on.
Murtazaliev came on strong in the later rounds, dropping Kelly with a left hook in the 9th round.
However, Kelly’s elusive style stopped Murtazaliev from getting in a rhythm and the Russian failed to have prolonged periods of front-footed success.
It was Murtazaliev’s first fight since October 2024 when he demolished Tim Tszyu (26-3, 18ko’s) in 3 rounds.
Team Murtazaliev which includes manager of Oleksandr Usyk Egis Klimas had struggled to secure a big fight since that win, but Kelly was up for the challenge.
Josh Kelly and trainer Adam Booth shared an emotional moment when Kelly’s hand was raised in Newcastle, becoming the first world champion from Sunderland.
Murtazaliev does not agree with the judges scorecards, and his team have officially launched a proposal for an immediate rematch.
Their reasoning for this was judge Steve Gray scoring the final round 10-10.
This score for a round is used very infrequently, and if Murtazaliev was awarded this round 10-9 then Gray would’ve scored the fight 113-113 and the Russian would have retained his title in a majority draw.
Whether the IBF will order this request is yet to be seen.
In 2025, the IBF ordered an immediate rematch between Lewis Crocker and Paddy Donovan, due to a controversial disqualification.
Donovan was on his way to a stoppage victory when he was accused of dropping Crocker after the bell, subsequently leading to the disqualification.
Donovan claimed his innocence stating that he didn’t hear the bell, and the IBF ordered the rematch.
This highlights that the IBF have history of ordering rematches, but it is yet to be seen whether they will interfere with this matter, with a lot of experts and boxing fans believing the right man won.
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